Page 306 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

XIV. Dissemination
© José Manuel Matés Luque. Interpretation panel on the Bakio shipwreck, placed on the seafront in the town of Bakio (Bizkaia, Basque Country, Spain), close to where the site is.The beach and seafront are used by many people, an excellent opportunity for raising awareness on underwater heritage.
Underwater cultural heritage deserves pro- tection because it is of general and public interest, and as part of our common maritime
heritage it has a unique value for humanity. Pro- tection instruments such as the 2001 Convention emphasize this notion of shared heritage. If the public interest is not served and if the public is not included in information and protection, research and management are of limited use. The Rules that specifically address information sharing and dissemination are Rule 35 and Rule 36.
Informing the public
Rule 35. Projects shall provide for public education and popular presentation of the project results where appropriate.
Activities directed at the underwater cultural heritage can take very different forms. They can include meticulous survey or extensive excavation, but they can also have consolidation or better access as their objective. Whatever the reason, once all the research, planning, logistics, survey, excavation, conservation, analysis, curation, management plan, and reporting is finished, the project still is not complete until the results have been shared with a wide audience.
305
14
Dissemination