4 April. On 28 March, Hon. Elsa Signorino, President of Ravenna Foundation invited the Director-General of ICCROM to participate in the workshop on mosaic restoration organized by the Foundation in Ravenna.

Present were: Fabrizio Matteucci, Mayor of Ravenna; Francesco Giangradi, President, Province of Ravenna; Lanfranco Gualtieri, President, Fondazione Cassa di Risprarmio, Ravenna; Giorgio Cozzlino, Soprintendente, Beni Architettonici, Ravenna; Luigi Manati, Soprintendente, Beni Archeologici, Emilia Romagna; Giuseppe Sassatelli, University of Bologna; Sergio Fioravanti, Director, Ravenna Foundation.

On 29 March, he was also invited to the opening of the Mosaics Restoration Laboratory of the Classe Archaeological Museum and participated as keynote speaker to the event.

28 March. On 22-23 March, at the invitation of Prof Satoshi Yamato, ICCROM Council Member and Prof Kenichiro Hidaka, Kokushikan University, Tokyo, the Director-General of ICCROM participated as a keynote speaker at the international conference on 'World Heritage Governance and Peace Strategy'. Held in the Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture, the conference was organized by the Tsukuba University and Nagasaki Prefecture.

Present were: Dr Rasool Vatandoust, Director of the National Research Centre for Cultural Heritage in Iran and ICCROM Council Member; Prof Satoshi Yamato, ICCROM Council Member; and, Nobuko Inaba, former ICCROM Staff and, presently, Head of the Project Planning and Conservation Department, Agency for Cultural Affairs.

28 March. On 17-18 March, the Director-General of ICCROM participated in the international conference on 'The return of cultural objects to their country of origin' held in Athens. He gave a presentation on 'International cooperation and research'.

Present were: Mr Michaelis Liapis, Minister of Culture, Greece; HE George Anastossopoulos, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Greece to UNESCO and Preseident of the General Conference of UNESCO; Ms Vivi Vassilopoulou, Director-General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, Hellenic Ministry of Culture; and Ms Elena Korka, Head, Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and ICCROM Council Member.

He also met Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO, Mrs Marianna Vardinoyannis.

17 March. On 14 March, the Director-General of ICCROM accompanied by Catherine Antomarchi, Collections Unit Director, attended a conference on 'Alla ricerca della Mummia della Regina Hatshepsut e della Regina Nefertiti e alla scoperta dei Misteri delle Piramidi' in the Archaeological Museum of Palestrina.

The event was hosted by the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities, Professor Zahi Hawass. Former and current ambassadors of Egypt attended as well as the President of the Egyptian Academy in Rome. The possibility of ICCROM developing a training programme for Egyptian conservators was discussed with Professor Hawass.

13 March. On 12 March 2008, the Director General attended a Round Table on 'The rebirth of the Library of Alexandria and the participation of the Italian national libraries in the Inter-Mediterranean cultural dialogue', held at the Foundation House of the Regions of the Mediterranean, in Rome.

The Director-General met Professor Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and discussed possible institutional collaboration.

He also met Mr Ugo Intini, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Italy, Mr Piero Marrazzo, President of the Lazio Region, and the Egyptian Ambassador, H.E. Mohamed Ashraf Gaml Eldin Rashed.

13 March. On 11 March 2008, the Director-General visited the Villa del Colle del Cardinale in Perugia, Italy together with Francesco Scoppola, Director, Direzione regionale per i beni culturali e paesaggistici dell'Umbria.

He met with Francesca Abbozzo, Art historian; Giovanni Brunacci, Surveyor; and Attilio Bartoli Langeli, President, Deputazione di Storia Patria per l'Umbria; and discussed future institutional collaboration.

13 March. On 7 March 2008, at the invitation of the Permanent Secretary of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Prof Jean Leclant, the Director-General of ICCROM participated as a member of the Jury of the Simone and Cino Del Duca Prize for Archaeology. The President of the Jury was Prof Jean-François Jarrige, Director of the Musée Guimet. They examined the canditatures proposed by the French Archaeological Missions of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.