ABOUT THE PROJECT
The HERAS philosophy can be summarized as “searching for the underwater heritage along the cross-border marine area from Constanta to Kaliakra, by joint teams of highly-qualified experts, for the benefit and welfare of local communities, for sustainable businesses and for the future.”
The HERAS Project has the Following Objectives:
- Discovering and identifying the joint submarine cultural heritage, going back thousands of years;
- Promoting the common historical potential – very attractive nowadays at a global level, but as yet still little known and little implemented in the Constanta-Kaliakra area;
- Promoting discoveries in such a way as to turn them into sustainable tourist attractions in the Constanta-Kaliakra area, such as: the underwater history and adventure tourism, scuba-diving (also triggering improvement of the awareness concerning the environment and the historical heritage).
HERAS Objectives
The General Objective of the HERAS Project is:
Developing the touristic potential of the Western Black Sea Shelf by identifying and promoting the resources of the common underwater multi-millenary cultural heritage resources.The general objective takes into account existing advantages and disadvantages:
- advantages: common multi-millenary history, existence of important underwater cultural heritage sites (both known and expected), existence of other unique attractions along the coast (starting from historical/ archaeological sites, to natural protected areas, caves, mass tourism and recreational facilities).
- existence of a highly-qualified human potential: the area includes institutions yielding significant results both in the field of marine sciences (GeoEcoMar), and in archaeology (the museums of Constanta and Kaliakra). Unique in the Bulgarian field of oceanology, and also yielding excellent scientific results, IO-BAS is a vital partner regarding experience and similar results. The partners have already had joint experiences in various fields of research, but never dedicated to the underwater cultural heritage.
- disadvantages: very little existing knowledge of the common underwater cultural heritage, the absence of joint strategies for the sustainable development of the Constanta and Dobrich coastal areas.
Bringing together the expertise offered by research institutes, museums and an NGO specialised in scuba-diving, our joint scientific team shall offer enough skills to develop a coherent and detailed investigation plan, to help identify, define and analyse the significant existing objects of the underwater cultural heritage sites. An important result, which will contribute to the development of specific businesses based on the particularities of the area, consists of creating a tourist management guide on the optimal usage of the underwater cultural heritage sites, in a sustainable and integrated manner along the entire Constanta-Kaliakra coastal area.
As a conclusion, by bringing together research institutes, museums and non-governmental organizations, new business opportunities can be created, by turning a current disadvantage (the lack of coherent information regarding the underwater heritage) into a specific regional attraction.
The Specific Objectives of the HERAS Project are:
1. Investigating and promoting the common archaeological heritage sites
The archaeological sites on the coast, low-scale and accidental discoveries bear proof to the existence of significant underwater cultural heritage (ancient sunken cities and shipwrecks). No coherent and detailed study has so far been carried out to this extent for the entire Constanta-Kaliakra area. Consequently, there is a clear need for a better study, research, identification, analysis and promotion of the cultural heritage in this area. The Balkan Peninsula, as well as the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Black Sea, can be considered the cradle of European civilisation. The Constanta-Kaliakra underwater area is one of the few insufficiently investigated areas for the identification of ancient European civilizations.
2. Stimulating the cross-border cooperation between research institutes, museums, NGOs, in order to create a joint excellence team in the field of underwater archaeology.
Each of the partners involved has significant experience in its dedicated field of activity. Only by bringing together this expertise and by creating joint RO-BG teams of multidisciplinary experts (starting with geologists and oceanographers to professional divers and archaeologists), can expected results be acquired.
Indirect geophysical methods (multibeam – acoustic mapping, gravimetric and magnetometric measurements), geological observations, video analysis by means of ROVs (remotely operated underwater vehicles) and of mini-submarines, specific underwater activities carried out by divers to identify and recover significant artefacts shall be focused on discovering underwater archaeological heritage sites.
3. Supporting the development of underwater archaeological adventure tourism plans
The discoveries estimated to be made during the implementation period of the project shall provide a sound basis for the development of new businesses in one of the most recent and fashionable ways of spending leisure time: underwater archaeological tourism. At the end of the project, the potential offered by the underwater cultural heritage sites in the area, insufficiently studied at the moment, can be turned into an attraction. In order to support the enforcement of sustainable development concepts for the Constanta-Dobrich area, the project shall provide solutions and guidance for the combined use of all existing attractions, starting from ancient sites to nature reserves and spelaean sites, entertainment sites on both sides of the border. Moreover, the management plan shall provide guidance for the sustainable use of these resources, by observing the specific cultural heritage and the norms of environmental protection (for instance, forbidding the destruction or looting of cultural heritage sites, either underwater or on-shore, eco-friendly trips in the protected natural sites, etc.).
Such a plan could also be useful for local authorities urgently needing a joint strategy for sustainable development through the integrated management of coastal areas.
HERAS Financing
Financing: European Structural Funds
Programme: Romania-Bulgaria Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013
Project Budget (EUR)
| Amount | |
| Total value, of which: | 1,498,433.45 |
| Eligible value, of which: | 1,447,560.00 |
| European Structural Funds | 1,227,820.39 |
| National co-financing, of which | 188,208.80 |
| Contribution from the Romanian state budget | 123,182.80 |
| Contribution from the Bulgarian state budget | 65,000.00 |
| Own contributions | 31,556.81 |
The HERAS Partnership
Lead Partner
The National Institute for Research and Development of Marine Geology and Geoecology – GeoEcoMar, Romania
Partner 2
The National History and Archaeology Museum of Constanta (MINAC), Romania
Partner 3
The Institute of Oceanology, Varna, Bulgaria
Partner 4
The Museum of Kavarna, Bulgaria
Partner 5
NGO “Respiro Underwater Research Society “Constanta, Romania
HERAS Activities
| No. | Activity | Start Date |
End Datei |
| A.0 | Project Coordination and Management | M1 | M18 |
| A.1 | Setting up the database of existing available information | M1 | M2 |
| A.2 | Initial cruising of the Black Sea west shelf – geophysical, geological and video (ROV) studies, in order to identify underwater cultural heritage sites (shipwrecks, ancient sunken cities) | M3 | M4 |
| A.3 | Joint field expeditions along the historic heritage sites on the Dobruja coast. Complex analyses (indirect – geophysical and direct – digging, sampling, diving, video sampling) of sunken dwellings and shipwrecks. | M4 | M7 |
| A.4 | Analysing the information deriving from initial cruising and field expeditions. | M5 | M9 |
| A.5 | Analysing and selecting areas with archaeological potential for detailed studies | M10 | M11 |
| A.6 | Analysis of existing tourism management plans, involving adventure tourism and archaeological dives, selecting the best possible examples of best practices worldwide that may be appropriate for the specific conditions of the Western Black Sea Shelf | M7 | M11 |
| A.7 | Inventory and identification of tourist attractions between Constanta and Kaliakra, others than those already proposed (for instance, Natura 2000 sites, ancient history on-shore sites, also golf courses, etc.) | M5 | M11 |
| A.8 | Specific training for direct underwater observations (scuba diving training for researchers and specific techniques used in marine archaeology) | M3 M11 |
M4 M12 |
| A.9 | Cruising for direct detailing and geophysical investigation of selected promising areas | M12 | M13 |
| A.10 | Detailed archaeological and geological –biological, etc. analyses of the data collected on cruises | M14 | M15 |
| A.11 | Choosing the sites to be promoted for tourist routes (underwater UNESCO, EU and national ICZM heritage sites and others) | M15 | M17 |
| A.12 | Developing the tourist management Guidelines-Plan for underwater heritage sites | M15 | M18 |
| A.13 | Training Scuba Instructors specialized in Marine Archaeology | M15 | M18 |
| A.14 | Setting up a permanent exhibition of the archaeological findings, artefacts, investigation methods, etc. | M15 | M18 |
| A.15 | Presenting scientific results (applied methodologies and outcomes) at international scientific events | M15 | M18 |
| A.16 | Specialized communication campaign to promote the discoveries of the project and new suggested opportunities | M6 | M18 |
| A.17 | Final project conference | M18 | M18 |
| A.18 | Setting up and maintaining a dedicated website for the project | M1 | M18 |
Expected HERAS Results
- Improving the abilities and skills of at least 20 experts of the 5 partner institutions (geologists and oceanographers from GeoEcoMar and IO-BAS, archaeologists from the Museums of Constanta and Kavarna, representatives of Respiro);
- Training Scuba Diver instructors specialized in marine archaeology and training Scuba Divers
- Maps and scientific reports of the underwater heritage sites for the Constanta-Kavarna area (boroughs/ dwellings and sunken ships/ shipwrecks);
- Archaeological artefacts;
- Permanent exhibition presenting the underwater cultural archaeological heritage sites on the Black Sea West Shelf. The exhibition shall also travel, on request, to other interested museums;
- Upgradable GIS-format database with layers covering both sides of the border and which shall consist of underwater cultural heritage sites selected from the ones discovered, attractions of the existing cultural heritage on the coastal area, nature protection sites and spelaean sites, other recreational attractions;
- Tourism management plan for the underwater heritage sites;
- Minimum four scientific papers published in relevant international magazines (at the end of the project);
- Special book of the conference (printed and digital version), containing chapters on the methodology involved, discoveries, archaeological artefacts;
- Brochures, posters, leaflets for a wider public – presenting the discoveries, as well the methods involved in the quest for the underwater cultural heritage sites;
- Project-dedicated website;
- Increase of awareness concerning existing common underwater cultural heritage sites, from Constanta to Kaliakra. Informed stakeholders, achieved project publicity, disseminated scientific information, functional website.
