MEMOFISH

MEMOFISH - MEMORY AND FUTURE. STORIES ABOUT THE DANUBE CIVILIZATION

Funding stream:
Interreg V-A Romania-Bulgaria 2014 - 2020

Short description:

The main goal of the MEMOFISH project was to improve the sustainable use of resources along the Danube banks by valorizing the cross-border fishermen cultural heritage as an example of conservation of a healthy aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem.

To achieve this goal, the partners set the following specific objectives:

1. To survey and promote the unique fishermen’s cultural heritage and their practices;
2. To save and prevent this legacy from being lost for the future generations by enhancing natural/cultural heritage protection in joint development strategies and policies;
3. To demonstrate that economic profit could go along with protection and preservation by developing and practically promoting integrated tourist products, based on the Danube fishermen’s heritage.

Based on previous surveys and projects in the CBC area, the project partners have identified the ruinous use of natural resources along the Danube as a threat to the eco systems. At the same time, they have become aware of the valuable natural/ cultural heritage of the Danube fishermen communities, which best combines the economic rationale and the protection logic.

To tackle the seemingly contradiction between eco system preservation and economic necessities of the population along the river, MEMOFISH partners conducted a detailed field research of the cross-border fishermen habitats. The findings are presented in a unique open source digitalized database set, where numerous promotional and scientific resources can be found: videos, photos, interviews, advertising movies, etc.

MEMOFISH provoked a participatory planning process in 5 cross-border mirror communities. Furthermore, to demonstrate that economic profit could go along with protection and preservation, the partners designed, tested and promoted 15 integrated tourist products, including: tourist routes, accommodation, attractions, food and aqua-related activities, based on the preservation of the fishermen heritage and the ecosystem.

The project was implemented in partnership of 5 Bulgarian and Romanian organisations where BRCCI was the lead applicant and coordinator.

Period of implementation: August 2018 – January 2020