Royal Library of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium

15 December 2011

PROVISIONAL AGENDA

Thursday 15 December 2011

8.30 am Opening

Underwater Cultural Heritage in Belgium

H.E. Geert Bourgeois, Flemish Minister for Immovable Heritage, Belgium

9 am The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage

(2001)

Ulrike Guerin, UNESCO, Programme Specialist

9.30 am Integrated maritime governance and policy in the European Union

Iain Shepherd, DG for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission

10 am Legal issues of the protection of underwater cultural heritage and the compatibility

of the 2001 Convention with UNCLOS

Mariano Aznar, Professor of Public International Law, University Jaume I of

Castellón, Spain

10.20 am Europe’s interest in ratifying the 2001 UNESCO Convention

Michel L’Hour, DRASSM, France

Robert Yorke, Joint Nautical Archaeology Policy Committee, UK

11 am The abundance of underwater cultural heritage: quantifying and qualifying

submerged archaeological sites

Mark Dunkley, English Heritage, UK

11.20 am Underwater cultural heritage in Europe: threats and chances

Friedrich Lüth, German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Germany

12 pm Opportunities arising from the valorisation of underwater cultural heritage for

national economies and cultural identities

Philip Robertson, Historic Scotland, UK

12.20 pm Innovative ways of presenting and disseminating knowledge about the underwater

cultural heritage

Garry Momber, Hampshire & Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology, UK

12.40 pm Making a statement for heritage preservation: ratifying the 2001 Convention

David Blackman, University of Oxford, UK

1 pm Lunch Break

2 pm Country roundtable

Friday 16 December 2011 – Optional visit to the medieval cog workshop in Antwerp

In 2000 and 2002, two wooden wrecks were found in the harbour of Antwerp during the

construction of the Deurganckdock. Specialists soon identified these wrecks as medieval cogs.

Cogs are the typical large merchantmen from the time in which the Flemish cities had their

economic height. The first cog, is one of the most complete of all medieval shipwrecks ever

found in Europe. At the time of the finding there was very limited time to do research on site.

Therefore every plank and timber had to be disassembled and was put in a container with water

to prevent it from rotting. In total 455 timbers of both cogs were placed in 33 containers. The

Flemish Heritage Institute (VIOE) started its multidisciplinary research in the summer of 2010 at

the Flanders Hydraulics Research (Waterbouwkundig Laboratorium) in Borgerhout, Antwerp.