09/05/2025

A five-day specialized training course for educators, titled Using Technology to Combat Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property and conducted according to a specialized training curriculum for law enforcement, has finished at the Agency for Education and Professional Training. The training was organized in cooperation with UNESCO and financially supported by the European Union.

The program gathered around 70 participants from various BiH institutions involved in the protection of cultural heritage and the fight against organized crime. Among the topics covered during the interactive workshop were online trade in cultural goods, digital investigation tools, inter-agency and international cooperation, connection between illicit trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism financing. The topics also included  IT concepts, gathering information from open sources, illicit trade in cultural property and Interpol tools, ID-ART, site protection, uncovering hidden items (use of search techniques), warning signs for border services, tips for effective reporting on return and restitution requests, protection of underwater cultural heritage (experiences from the Republic of Croatia), experiences of customs authorities in preventing illicit trade, investigations by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in cases involving cultural property, prosecution of criminal offenses, and the use of special investigative measures.

The training was conducted by both national and international experts from UNESCO, Tax Administration of the Federal Republic of Germany, Police, Customs Administration and Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Spain, International Centre for Underwater Archaeology in Zadar (Croatia), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Investigations Division), National Police Academy of the Republic of France,  Directorate for Cultural Heritage of North Macedonia, National Museum of Montenegro, INTERPOL, EUROPOL. Contributing to the workshop were also lecturers from the Agency for Education and Professional Training, as well as representatives from the Prosecutor's Office and the Institute for the Protection of Cultural-Historical and Natural Heritage of Sarajevo Canton, the Indirect Taxation Authority, the universities of Sarajevo and Travnik, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the West Herzegovina Canton, the Ministry of Education and Culture of Republika Srpska, and the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At the closing ceremony, certificates were awarded by the Director of the Agency for Education and Professional Training, Marko Vujević, who emphasized the importance of continued cooperation between national and international partners to protect our shared cultural heritage.