Foundational programme
Maritime & Underwater Cultural Heritage.
Programme approach
Water connects sites, people, knowledge and responsibility.
CIE’s MUCH programme moved beyond treating underwater sites as isolated archaeological remains. It connected shipwrecks and collections with coastal communities, museums, living maritime knowledge, environmental conditions and the institutions responsible for long-term care.
The programme combined research with practical training, regional cooperation and public access. CIE used Nautical Archaeology Society pathways in several locations and, from 2011, held accreditation connected to UNESCO’s 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.
Programme map
Research, learning and stewardship
The archive is organised by the kind of work undertaken, with country pages available where a programme needs more context.
Field schools and training programmes
One route through Galle, Hong Kong, Robben Island, Durban, Guam, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Ilha de Moçambique and later site-based learning.
Browse the collection ↗Training into a local heritage network
NAS learning led to the Hong Kong Underwater Heritage Group, survey and collections work, public interpretation and wider regional exchange.
Open Hong Kong story ↗The Avondster Project
Excavation as a vehicle for research, training, conservation and the growth of the Maritime Archaeology Unit in Galle.
Open project story ↗ANCODS collection return
Registration, digital access, public presentation and the physical return of old Dutch shipwreck collections to Australia.
Open project story ↗Galle museum and Maritime Archaeology Unit
The institutional and public legacy created around research, collections, training and the presentation of Sri Lanka’s maritime archaeology.
Open legacy story ↗Tanzania and Zanzibar
Management, survey, databases, regional networks and training across connected coastal landscapes.
Open programme story ↗Community maritime heritage
Local skills and practical frameworks developed to protect underwater heritage and resist treasure hunting.
Open programme story ↗Programme development
From sites to ocean systems
Galle as a training ground
Research around the Avondster becomes a basis for Sri Lankan maritime-archaeology capacity, conservation and museum work.
Regional programme building
Work expands across South Africa, East Africa, Micronesia, Hong Kong and Australia, linking training, management and collections.
Hong Kong group development
NAS training supports a local underwater-heritage group that develops surveys, a database, collections care and public interpretation.
Field-school networks
Robben Island and Guam host cumulative curricula while Tanzania, Zanzibar and Mozambique strengthen regional cooperation.
Living maritime landscapes
Community practice, World Heritage questions and site-based interdisciplinary learning move the programme beyond archaeology alone.
Global Ocean Heritage
The work continues through ocean heritage, ecological relationships, community Co-Labs, connected records and heritage justice.
Living legacy
Continue through Global Ocean Heritage.
CIE’s present programme retains the earlier commitment to practical skills and good stewardship while widening the frame to include climate, ecology, displacement, extraction, community memory and data.
Explore Global Ocean Heritage ↗