PROGRAM

What to expect?

The 13th EuroSpeleo Forum will take place in the rooms (venues) of the National Educational Centre of the Red Cross, Dolni Lozen, Sofia, Bulgaria.

The program includes presentations, poster presentations, scientific symposia, Speleo Olympics Competition, guided cave tours, Speleo Expo, a photo contest, film screenings and more. A National Forum of Speleology of the cavers in Bulgaria will be held during the 13th EuroSpeleo Forum.

General Panel with presentations on subjects related to:

  • Cave Exploration & Expeditions;
  • Cave Biology / Bio speleology;
  • Cave Geology, Geomorphology and Geography of Karst;
  • Cave Protection;
  • Cave Rescue;
  • EuroSpeleo Show Cave Symposium.

Symposia

  • Symposium “Cave Climate and Paleoclimate – Best Record of the Global Change IV“;
  • Symposium on “Techniques for Remote Location of Unknown Underground Cavities”;
  • 2nd EuroSpeleo Show Cave Symposium;
  • Conservation Workshop (presentations and discussion).

Competitions

  • EuroSpeleo Photo Competition;
  • EuroSpeleo Image’In Film Festival;
  • Speleo Olympic Competition.

Expo center

  • Speleo Expo;
  • Speleo Book Fair.

Guided cave tours, before and during EuroSpeleo Forum 2019.

Pre-meeting Program

As part of the 13th EuroSpeleo Forum, a pre-meeting program that includes caving, mountain and cultural events is scheduled for 21-25 September.

“Kastrakli 2019”, Western Rhodopes

From 21 to 25 September, in the area of ​​Orfey hut, Kastrakli Reserve in the town of Borino, you will be able to participate in the “Kastrakli 2019” expedition with the purpose of drawing maps of the caves in the area, studying newly discovered parts, taking GPS coordinates of promising objects in the area of ​​the Kastrakli Biosphere Reserve.

One of the attractions of the event will be a sports competition.

There will be trekking and introduction to the natural sights of the area – Yagodinska Cave, Dyavolskoto Garlo Cave, Trigrad and Trigrad Gordge, Kastrakli Biosphere Reserve, Teshel Gorge and many others.

All registered participants in EuroSpeleo Forum 2019 will be able to visit for free show caves in the region: Yagodinska Cave, Dyavolskoto Garlo.

To participate, you need to have camping equipment (tent, mattress, sleeping bag, personal cutlery), personal equipment for SRT and the most important – desire to explore this wonderful part of Bulgaria.

Accommodation in ​​Orfey hut is possible but limited.

Questions and requests to participate should be emailed to esf@speleo-bg.org.

More information will be published in the EuroSpeleo Forum website and in the 3th Circular.

Guided cave tours

There will be guided tours of caves near Sofia within the pre-meeting program and first 2 days of the Forum.

Guided tours of the following caves are planned for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for Duhla Cave (the longest cave in Bulgaria), Elata Cave, Temnata Dupka – Berende izvor, Temnata Dupka – Lakatnik, Rushova Cave.

Details about the caves will be available on the forum’s website.

There will be guides for all cave tours. Those who are unable to use their own transport need to note that in the online registration form.

Accommodation for the pre-meeting program will be available at the base of the National Educational Centre of the Red Cross from Monday 23 September, after 16:00.

Call for presentations

Presentations should last no more than 25 minutes, including 5 minutes for discussion. All presentations should be in English.

Abstracts in English should be sent via email to esf@speleo-bg.org and contain the following information:

  • Title
  • Name, Family Name of the presenter
  • Section, symposium or workshop the presentation belongs
  • Type (oral presentation, poster presentation)
  • Abstract (maximum 500 characters with spaces)
  • Short bio of the presenter (maximum 200 characters with spaces)
  • Others: caving club (or organization), country
  • References
  • Attach at least one 1 and no more than 3 photos to the abstract

Deadline for receiving the abstracts: 1 July 2019.

Symposia

Call for participation in „Cave Climate and Paleoclimate – Best Record of the Global Change“ symposium

Dear Colleague,

I am writing you regarding the 4th Symposium on „Cave Climate and Paleoclimate – Best Record of the Global Change IV“ in September 2019.

This meeting is primary focused on influence of the climate and karst ecosystems on karst processes and on paleoclimatic records in speleothems and cave sediments.

Following the great success of the international workshop on „Cave Climate and Paleoclimate – Best Record of the Global Change“ in Stara Zagora, symposium on „Cave Climate and Paleoclimate – Best Record of the Global Change II“ during the 14th International Congress of Speleology (ICS) in Greece and the special session „Cave Climate and Paleoclimate Record of the Global Change III” of the 16th ICS in Brno, 4th Symposium on „Cave Climate and Paleoclimate – Best Record of the

Global Change IV“ will be held during the 13th EuroSpeleo Forum in Sofia, Bulgaria, 26th-29th September, 2019.

I would like to invite you to submit a talk to this meeting. Your participation in the meeting will be most welcome. You must be registered participant of the 13th EuroSpeleo Forum in order to give presentations at this Symposium (which is a part of the Forum).

Topics of the Symposium are:

  1. Underground Climatology
  2. Paleoclimatic Reconstruction from Karst Sediments
  3. Speleothem records of Global Environmental Changes.
  4. Ecosystems Impact on Karst Processes and Karst Records.
  5. Astrophysical and Geophysical Applications of Speleothem Records
  6. Infiltration of Porous Waters
  7. Soil Impact on Karst Processes
  8. Physical Chemistry of Karst Processes
  9. Trace Geochemistry of Karst
  10. Biogenic Mineralisation in Caves
  11. Using of Cave Climate for Medical Therapy.

With my best regards,

Prof. Yavor Shopov, B.A., M.Sc, PhD, Chairman of the 4th Symposium on “Cave Climate and Paleoclimate – Best Record of the Global Change IV”

Call for participation in The Second European Symposium on „Techniques for Remote Location of Unknown Underground Cavities”

Dear Colleague,

I am writing you regarding the International Symposium on „Techniques for Remote Location of Unknown Underground Cavities” in September 2019. This meeting is primary focused on development and applications of new techniques for remote location of unknown caves. The most advanced of this technique is remote location of new unknown caves with thermal cameras mounted on drones. It has great potential for location of new unknown caves in hardly accessible remote locations with extremely rough and dangerous surface like Afghanistan, Pakistan or tepui in Venezuela. It will be extremely helpful to expand cave exploration in new regions and even on other planets. Studies of possibilities for application of this technique for search for caves on Mars and the Moon already began. So this symposium will be of interest not only to cave scientists and exploration geophysicist, but also to all cavers interested in the exciting search and exploration of new caves.

International Symposium on „Techniques for Remote Location of Unknown Underground Cavities” will be held during the 13th EuroSpeleo Forum in Sofia, Bulgaria, 26th-29th September, 2019.

I would like to invite you to submit a talk to this meeting. Your participation in the meeting will be most welcome. You must be registered participant of the 13th EuroSpeleo Forum in order to give presentations at this Symposium (which is a part of the Forum).

With my best regards,

Prof. Yavor Shopov, PhD,

Chairman of the International Symposium on „Techniques for Remote Location of Unknown Underground Cavities”

Call for participation in the 2nd EuroSpeleo Show Cave Symposium

After the 1st EuroSpeleo Show Cave Symposium in Austria in 2018, a 2nd symposium will be held during the 13th EuroSpeleo Forum in Sofia, Bulgaria in partnership with the Bulgarian Tourist Union.

In a special scientific session, participants will have the opportunity to present and discuss current topics on different stages of rebuilding a cave in a show cave as: cave exploration, conservation, access and socialization, working time and access control, protection of the underground environment, standards for show cave development.

In addition, at a specially organized “round table” will be discussed topics related to:

  • Creation of a European network of show caves;
  • Theory and practice of training guides for show caves;
  • Show caves as a continuous source of scientific data about physical parameters inside and outside the cave, which are the foundation of cave monitoring, cave climate research and estimation of the anthropogenic factors’ influence.

A visit to the Saeva dupka cave is foreseen for the participants in the symposium. The cave is located 3 km south of the village of Brestnitsa, Lovech District and 10 km from the town of Yablanitsa. Saeva dupka cave is one of the most beautiful caves in Bulgaria. Temperatures in the cave are from 7 to 11° C and the humidity is between 90 and 98%. It is 520 meters above the sea level. The cave is almost 210 meters long. There is a river, 70 meters below the ground. Geomorphological studies show that it is about 3 million years old.

Saeva dupka cave is unique with the specific green, brown and white coloration of the secondary karst formations. It has a huge variety of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, helicities and dendrites. The largest column there has a circuit of 60 meters. Bones of animals, clay vessels, coins dated from the time of the Roman emperor Antony and other artifacts have been found during the reconstruction of the cave.

Since 2006, Saeva dupka cave is a polygon for experimental integrated monitoring and complex physicochemical studies of the cave environment and its interaction with the karst massif and Earth’s atmosphere.

A special talk will be given for the participants during the visit.

We invite all show cave operators and cave explorers to exchange their experience and knowledge participating in the “2nd Show Cave Symposium” in the frames of the 13th EuroSpeleo Forum in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Call for participation in Conservation Workshop (presentations and discussion)

Topics of the Workshop are:

Karst protection according to the European conservation regulation. Can we use or interpret European good practices in the Balkans/Bulgaria?

Biospeleogy – underground organisms as a unit for cave protection. Common Standards Monitoring – Natural Habitat Type 8310?

Forming of Cave-Friendly Ethics in the Region. Conservation education for speleologist.

Prepared guidelines and recommendations for incorporation of conservation policies in sectoral development programs and plans. Analysis and integration of existing best practices and traditional knowledge in the modern management systems.

Competitions

Call for entries for EuroSpeleo Photo Competition

During the 13th Euro Speleo Forum, there will be a photo competition dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the organized cave movement in Bulgaria and the 45th anniversary of cave rescue in the country.

All kinds of cave-related photos (creative, documentary, humorous, etc.) are acceptable.

Photos should be sent as JPG file format of minimum 2500 pixels on the longer side.

Each participant may send up to 3 of his/her works via e-mail to esf-photo@speleo-bg.org along with the following information: photo title, description (where it was made), author, contact details. The author’s participation in the EuroSpeleo Forum is mandatory.

The photos will be shown at the exhibition at the EuroSpeleo Forum. The winning photos will be determined by audience voting. The names of the authors will not be displayed in the exhibition so that voters can cast their vote impartially.

The copyright remains with the photographer. The photographer agrees that his/her works may be printed and presented online for the purposes of a report of EuroSpeleo Forum 2019 without any modifications.

The three best photos will receive prizes from our sponsors.

We are looking forward to your best photos!

Deadline for receiving the photos: 1 August 2019

Call for entries for EuroSpeleo Image’In Film Festival

The EuroSpeleo Image’In Film Festival will also be held during the 13th EuroSpeleo Forum.

Screenings will take place in the evenings, in the halls of National Educational Centre of the Red Cross or outdoors. Acceptable materials are films or photos organized as a slideshow.

Anyone wishing to participate should submit their materials in MP4 format by providing a download link in an email to esf-movie@speleo-bg.org.

It is preferable that the films should be no longer than 30 minutes and the slideshows should be no longer than 15 minutes. Each participant can only send 1 film or slide show.

The winning films and slideshows will be determined by audience voting.

The three best works will receive prizes from our sponsors.

Deadline for receiving a film or slideshow: 1 August 2019

Call for participants in Speleo Olympic Competitions

During the forum, the traditional Speleo Olympics competitions will be organized.

There will be competitions in several disciplines:

  • Team competition, including passing the complicated SRT system, climbing or descending on the ladder, self-rescue, etc.
  • Individual competition for speed climbing through pulley.
  • Combined individual competition, involving passing the narrow passages with transport bags, knotting knots with closed eyes.

The competitions will take place in a specially equipped hall or outdoors in the Centre. They are scheduled for two days (Friday and Saturday).

Anyone wishing to compete is required to provide personal equipment used in the single rope technique and to register in advance, on spot – Thursday or the days before.

The organizers have provided prizes for the winners (from 1st to 3rd places) in each discipline of the competitions.

More details will be published in the third circular letter.

Expo Centre

Call for participants in Speleo Expo

The organizers are inviting caving clubs and organizations as well as companies to participate as sellers or exhibitors at the EuroSpeleo Forum 2019.

During the EuroSpeleo Forum, there will be a special Speleo Expo Hall, where you will be able to present or sell products. The hall is located in the block where many of the events in the forum program will be organized and held, so the participants in the respective events will have the chance to view the products exhibited at the Speleo Expo Hall at any time.

Conditions for participation in Speleo Expo

The hall will be open on each of the forum days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) from 9:30 to 18:00.

Exhibitors will be able to arrange their stands in advance on Wednesday after 13:30. The hall should be vacated by 13:30 on Sunday.

Package price for the Hall for using the hall for the 3 days of the EuroSpeleo Forum:

  • 16 Euro per m2 for occupying up to 2 m2
  • 14 Euro per m2 for occupying up to 5 m2

The price is 8 Euro per m2 per day in case the hall will be used for only one day.

Exhibitors will be allowed to use up to 5 m2 at Speleo Expo.

For all participants who have paid to use the hall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Wednesday and Sunday will be free of charge. For all the rest, Wednesday and Sunday will be at half price.

It is the participants’ should themselves organize and arrange their products. They should themselves sell and guard their products for the time when the hall is open to visitors (from 9:30 to 18:00). All facilities (stands, hangers, mannequins, etc.) should be provided by the participants themselves.

The organizers are able to provide no more than one table sized 1 m x 0.60 cm per exhibitor.

Any participants wishing to exhibit and sell their products may apply via email at esf@speleo-bg.org

The deadline is 1 August.

Call for participants in Speleo Book Fair

There will be a special venue for Speleo Book Fair. The fair will be held from Thursday to Saturday from 9:30 to 18:00.

Terms and fees for exhibiting books

The fee for a table with an area of about 100 cm x 60 cm is 11 Euro.

The participants themselves organize, organize and sell their books.

Any participants wishing to exhibit and sell their books may apply via email at esf@speleo-bg.org

The deadline is 1 August.