Heritage Malta is organising a two day conference during which the results of the Mercator project will be presented and discussed. During the conference presentations will be delivered by speakers hailing from participating countries and organisations including Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Morocco and Malta. The project brought together six countries and the collaboration of prestigious institutions including the Diputacion de Alicante - MARQ in Spain, the University of Mertola in Portugal and Istituto di Storia della Cultura Material (ISCUM) on behalf of the Regione Liguria in Italy.

During this project these institutions shared and promoted information on merchants and merchant cities in Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries. The project's aim was to make the subject available to the public via all modern means of information technology and modern communications. This included an interregional publication, a web-site and the creation of a comprehensive database of merchants and merchant cities of the period.

Four workshops and four international conferences were held over the two years duration of this project, which enhanced the exchange of ideas and experience on the promotion and management of maritime heritage in the Mediterranean. An educational multimedia programme directed towards school children was also created and made available on the project website.

In all the partner countries, funds from the MERCATOR project financed, amongst other things, the setting up a heritage trail in various ports which tourists and natives alike can see and walk through.

The MERCATOR project was launched in the later months of 2006 during a steering committee meeting held in Malta. The MERCATOR project forms part of the Interegg IIIB MEDOCC Programme, an EU-funded initiative aimed at stimulating trans-national cooperation between countries in the Mediterranean.

The conference which is of interest to all historians and all those interested in maritime affairs will be held on the 22nd and 23 July at the Malta Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa. Further details can be obtained from the Heritage Malta website (www.heritagemalta.org). Participation is free of charge but booking is essential.