Dave Ball
Emeritus Board Member
The 17th annual meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body (STAB) to the UNESCO 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) was held last month at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The STAB meeting took place on 10 June, alongside related meetings: the UNITWIN Network and accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to the 2001 Convention met on 9 June, and a half-day scientific conference followed on 11 June (stay tuned for the next blog post by Jeneva Wright on that). STAB, the NGOs (which includes ACUA and SHA), and UNITWIN each work to promote the 2001 Convention. Jeneva Wright participated as the ACUA representative and I participated for SHA. Several other ACUA Board members and Associate members were also in attendance representing their various NGOs.
This year marks the Convention’s 25th anniversary, and much of the discussion centered on ways to commemorate this milestone. One upcoming event is the International Day of Underwater Cultural Heritage on 21 August, where UNESCO will highlight a series of events promoting the historical and scientific significance of UCH. Accredited NGOs are encouraged to submit activities for endorsement through UNESCO’s online portal.
In addition to planning for the International Day of Underwater Cultural Heritage, the UNITWIN and NGO meetings included member reports on activities carried out over the past year in support of the Convention. The STAB meeting included election of new Bureau members, summaries of recent STAB Missions, and the welcome of two new signatories to the Convention—Ireland and Sierra Leone—bringing the total number of member states to 81. UNESCO is also planning for a summit on 2 November focused on impacts of climate change on UCH.
The 11 June scientific conference was themed Rethinking Underwater Cultural Heritage: Integrating living heritage safeguarding into ocean and inland waters’ management. It featured presentations on the 2001 Convention and the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, along with a series of panel presentations supporting this theme. Jeneva Wright and I were invited to participate in the panel session and will be discussed in greater detail in the next ACUA blog post. ACUA’s and SHA’s participation in these annual meetings reaffirms both organizations’ commitment to supporting and promoting the 2001 Convention. We have accomplished a great deal over the past 25 years, and we look forward to continued collaboration with our NGO partners, UNITWIN, and the Secretariat. With that in mind, and for those attending the 2027 Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology Conference in Austin in January, SHA and ACUA will sponsor a panel session on the Convention, which will feature panelists from the STAB, NGOs, and UNITWIN. See you in Austin!
Categorised in: Deep Thoughts