Pierre Sammut, head of finance and business development at Heritage Malta, was in Alicante, Spain recently, presiding over the second steering committee meeting of the EU-funded project, Mercator.

The project is co-financed under the Interreg IIIB Medocc Programme, Measure 1.1. Structuring of the Mediterranean Zone. Mercator is aimed at the study, understanding and valorisation of various facets of Mediterranean maritime history, with special emphasis on mercantile activity around the Mediterranean coast. The partner countries represented at the meeting, from Malta, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece, discussed the progress made on the various project activities and decided on a plan of action until the next steering committee meeting in September.

As lead partner, Heritage Malta is coordinating the various meetings and activities related to this project. Two such activities were held at the Museo Arqueologico Provincial de Alicante (MARQ) over three days. Malta was represented on both occasions by Emmanuel Magro Conti and Carmen Dalli, respectively senior curator and administration executive of the Maritime and Military History division of Heritage Malta.

On 25 April, the Museums Network, established within the Mercator Project with the aim of creating a common protocol on the use of New Technologies in Museums, met at MARQ. The network incorporates museums from Malta, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece. The partners who attended presented their professional experiences regarding the introduction of new technologies in different museums in their countries and how this has changed the general outlook of the museums and the way the collections are presented to the visitor. All members of the network agreed to compile a report on the state of new museums’ technologies in their respective countries before the protocol is written and agreed upon by all the partners.