Ethnological heritage, maritime society and culture

Maritime culture and society is presently being reformulated in terms of ethnological heritage in many places. The sea and coastline have been considerated primarily as a resource, border and swapping area, but we can recently observe the emergence of new dynamics involving a revaluation of the sea, seascape, fisheries, navigation and infrastructures based on the notion of ethnological heritage.

The project proposes to study discourses, representations and actions in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Cantabrian Spain among the various agents involved in this heritage process, focusing on: The small-scale fishing, industrial fishing, recreational fishing and underwater fishing; The nautical sports, recreation and coastal tourism; The environmental movement and/or the scientific community associated with marine reserves; Institutions, museums and entities engaged in the preservation and promotion of maritime heritage; And finally administrative managers of ports, coastal areas and architectural elements involved in the maritime heritage process.

The main aspects arising from the purpose of this project are:

1. To know the state of development and characteristics of the patrimonial process that is taking place in the maritime field in the recent years.

2. To rethink the boundaries between natural and cultural maritime heritage in terms of the discourses of social actors who are themselves involved in the heritage process.

3. To support the development of local communities through coastal maritime heritage as an element of social cohesion and cultural promotion.

Phase I: Development of a map and state of the art
The first year of research is to develop a map and state of the art about the maritime heritage in Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia and Basque Country. The activity consists in gathering information from governments and stakeholders on initiatives that are currently underway about heritage and sea. All this information is entered into a database developed for this purpose.
 

Phase II: Fieldwork
From the data obtained in the first phase begins the second phase which will last for a year and a half and will have as fundamental element in-depth studies of specific cases of maritime heritage. Our team is composed mainly by anthropologists, so that the methodology used to conduct in-depth studies will be ethnographic. But the team also has art historians and an architect to better assess the patrimonial planning and architectural elements linked to the sea.
 

Phase III: Synthesis and processing of results
During the third and final phase we will carry out the synthesis of the project and preparing the results as a monograph, articles and presentations at national and international level. We will also work to develop proposals and recommendations for the future of research in maritime heritage conservation, management and dissemination.