With funding from the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) in conjunction with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) in Athens, Greece and the American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) in Istanbul, Turkey, the Elliniki Etaireia: The Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and the Cultural Heritage, and The Economic and Social History Foundation of Turkey, sponsored a workshop entitled The Past as Present: Historic Preservation and Site Management. The workshop (September 23 – 25, 2005) included presentation of papers by Greek and Turkish scholars as well as Americans working in these countries and site visits to historic preservation sites in Istanbul.

The purpose of this conference was to convene, in a forum that crosses national boundaries, women and men who have contributed to the effort to conserve, preserve, and present their cultural heritage. Greece and Turkey are rich in sites and monuments testifying to the heritage of the Greco-roman world as well as civilizations before and since. They are also faced with similar issues of urbanization and rapid development as well as economies that depend heavily on a tourism industry that in turn depends in large part on their past. Presenters included Greek and Turkish archaeologists, historians of art and architecture, architects, urban planners, business people, as well as Americans working in these countries.

The workshop was a great success filled with lively discussions of the various issues related to working in each respective country. All the participants felt that this was an important meeting to open the lines of communication between colleagues in the two countries linked by a common history but separated by modern political differences. Work has already begun on securing funds to continue this dialogue, this time in Greece.