Issues in education in maritime archaeology

This paper examines the impact of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage (2001) on education in maritime archaeology in the Asia-Pacific region. It suggests that the bringing into force of the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage on 2 Jan 2009 provides great challenges to the way in which teaching maritime archaeology will be conducted in the future. By providing a framework of standards of practice and encouraging nations to collaborate and co-operate in maritime archaeological teaching the UNESCO Convention 2001 will fundamentally change the ways in which the teaching of maritime archaeology is conducted in many countries of the world. This paper describes one model for the implementation of Article 21 (Training in Underwater Archaeology) of the UNESCO Convention 2001 which it is hoped will provide the basis for effective collaboration and co-operation in the teaching of maritime archaeologists in the Asia-Pacific region. The model is being developed in association with the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS), ICUCH (ICOMOS Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage) and UNESCO as well as universities in the Asia-Pacific region.