The international conference “HERITAGE, COMMUNITIES, TERRITORIES” is the sixth edition of the conference series “THE UNKNOWN”, which has traditionally been organized every two years in Plovdiv since 2016. Previous editions have been held in partnership between the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IEFSEM-BAS) and the Association “THE UNKNOWN – PLOVDIV”. In 2026, the Scientific Council of IEFSEM-BAS decided (Minutes No. 9/19.05.2026) that IEFSEM-BAS would serve as the lead organizing institution of the conference. Traditionally, the forum brings together university lecturers, scholars, researchers, and specialists from various disciplines within the social sciences and humanities. Participants in the sixth edition of the forum in 2026 represent a wide range of institutions, universities, research centres, and educational organizations from Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Greece, Hungary, Croatia, France, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Morocco, the Republic of Moldova, Finland, Germany, Estonia, and the United States. The submitted proposals address a broad range of topics, from cultural heritage and forms of cultural expression to issues related to ethnic, ethnolinguistic, and ethnoreligious communities of different sizes. The conference will take place in Plovdiv from 2 to 4 October 2026. As a result of this scientific forum, we expect to strengthen scientific dialogue among researchers from different countries, promote the exchange of ideas, research methods and approaches, and the publication of a conference proceedings volume (in both electronic and print formats) with open access, which will be registered with the National Centre for Information and Documentation (NACID) and included in the Bulgarian Portal for Open Science (BPOS).
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