Dr John Ebejer, an academic of the Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture (ITTC), gave the keynote presentation at an international symposium of European Walled Towns. Dr Ebejer’s presentation was about developing project concepts for historic sites. To illustrate, he used his own experience on the project for the restoration and reuse of Fort St Elmo. Concept development is a stage of the process that is often not given sufficient attention in public projects resulting in unnecessary delays, inappropriate interventions and/or proposals that are not financially feasible. Dr Ebejer’s presentation was very well received.
The symposium was held recently at Hellevoetsluis, a unique fortified harbour town south of Rotterdam. The symposium was attended by urban heritage professionals, administrators and politicians from The Netherlands, Britain, Turkey, Slovenia, Croatia and Malta. The European Walled Towns is the international association for sustainable development of fortified historic towns in Europe. Dr Ebejer’s participation and involvement with European Walled Towns is part of the ITTC’s outreach programme.