From Wednesday, April 25 to Saturday, April 28, 2012, The Erfgoedcel Waasland and Ghent University, Department of Geography organized the international conference 'Mercator Revisited – Cartography in the Age of Discovery'. The conference took place in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium and was supported by the International Cartographic Association (ICA) and the Flemish Government.

Over the course of three days, we welcomed 4 keynotes, 24 speakers and 66 participants from 16 different countries. During the day they discussed early modern cartography, the place of Mercator in his time and current approaches to cartoheritage, while the social programme included the exhibitions of Mercators globes of heaven and earth and of a book from Mercator’s own library, a visit to the historic Plantin-Moretus printing house and a guided tour of the historic city of Ghent.