26.09.2025
From September 17–19, 2025, the city of Ohrid, North Macedonia, hosted the 18th International Scientific Conference WoodEMA 2025 under the theme “Wood for the Future: Integrating Sustainability Across Industries”. The forum brought together scholars and experts from more than 20 countries to discuss the challenges and opportunities for sustainable development in the forestry and wood-processing industries, as well as the cultural, economic, and social role of wood.
One of the highlights of the program was the presentation of a research team from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – Prof. Sonia Mileva, DSc, Prof. Neviana Krasteva, DSc, and Assoc. Prof. Desislava Aleksova, PhD. Their study “Gamification of Traditional Bulgarian Woodcarving as a Cultural Heritage Tourism Product” explored how digital tools and game-based methods can support the preservation and promotion of this unique art form.
In her presentation, Prof. Sonya Mileva emphasized the importance of Bulgarian woodcarving as part of the country’s intangible cultural heritage, now facing challenges such as modernization, the lack of generational continuity, and limited digital and tourism visibility. The team proposed an innovative model that integrates gamification into cultural tourism through: Interactive narratives and storytelling that highlight the symbolism and traditions of woodcarving; Challenges and educational games that allow visitors to experience the creative process; Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) tools for virtual “apprenticeship” and new educational practices.
The study shows that gamification can enrich the tourism experience while also contributing to the preservation and transmission of traditional woodcarving skills to future generations.
This research was funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund under the project “Gamification in Education for Building an Effective Competence System in the Context of Industry 5.0” (KP-06-PN85/3, 05.12.2024), as well as by the European Union – NextGenerationEU through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Republic of Bulgaria, project SUMMIT BG-RRP-2.004-0008-C01.