Experts in historic cities from all over the world will be meeting in Valletta next week. The International Committee on Historic Towns and Villages (CIVVIH) will be holding its Annual Meeting and Scientific Symposium in Valletta.

The delegates, who are among the top experts in their field, will be in Malta from Wednesday to Saturday.

The theme of the Scientific Symposium is 'The historic city: A reference model for urban sustainable development policies'. The symposium is open to the public and will be held at the Museum of Archaeology in Valletta between 9 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. on Thursday. It will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

The evening sessions will include four different workshops on the conservation of historic seaport cities, the conservation and management of historic wooden towns, the management of sustainable mobility in historic cities and the conservation and management of historic fortified towns.

Those who would like to attend must register beforehand by sending an e-mail to raymond.j.jones@gov.mt.

The other two days of the meeting are only open to CIVVIH expert and associate members. CIVVIH is the most important international scientific committee in this field. It is part of the International Council of Monuments and Sites. The conference is being organised with the collaboration of Heritage Malta, the Malta Tourism Authority and the Ministry for Finance.