PERICLES

Context

Preserving and Sustainably Governing Cultural Heritage and Landscapes in European Coastal and Maritime Regions (PERICLES) enables sustainable usage of maritime and coastal cultural heritage Looking across Europe, coastal peoples’ cultural heritage tells a story of hundreds – even a thousand– years of connections with their marine and coastal environments. This cultural heritage provides a sense of place, unity, and belonging to people; it connects people to each other and to the past and helps guide our future.

But coastal and maritime cultural heritage is at risk today from climate change, pollution, urbanisation, mass tourism, population decline in rural areas, the loss of traditional fishing fleets, neglect, and inconsistent policies of sea and shore conservation across European regions. PERICLES thus works to show the potentials and opportunities of Europe’s diverse cultural heritage, while protecting and preserving it for future generations.

Key aims and objectives

PERICLES addressed the following specific objectives to advance sustainable governance of Cultural Heritage:

Develop an in-depth, situated understanding - and provide a comprehensive picture of the societal importance - of the Cultural Heritage of marine and coastal land/seascapes, covering both tangible and intangible heritage
Develop practical tools, based on stakeholder involvement and participatory governance, for (a) understanding, assessing and mitigating risks to CH and (b) enhancing sustainable growth and increasing employment by harnessing CH assets
Provide a comprehensive, participatory framework for sustainable management, conservation and exploitation of European coastal and maritime cultural landscapes, which integrates knowledge across local, spatial, environmental, social and economic aspects of Cultural heritage
Provide policy advice to improve integration of CH in key marine and environmental policies and the implementation of associated EU directives (e.g., ICZM, MSP, IMP, MSFD)
Develop effective knowledge exchange networks among policy makers, stakeholders and scholars

York Key Contacts

Dr Bryce Stewart, Senior Lecturer, Department of Environment and Geography

Dr Sarah Knight, ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Environment and Geography

Elaine Azzopardi, Research Associate in Ecosystem and Culture Interrelations, Department of Environment and Geography

Principal and Co-Investigators

Principal Investigator

Dr Bryce Stewart, Department of Environment and Geography, University of York

Principal Funder

EU Horizon 2020

External Partners

University of Aalborg

Queen's University Belfast

Scottish Association of Marine Science

University of Highlands and Islands

Estonia National Heritage Board

Universidade de Aveiro

Wageningen University

Université de Bretagne Occidentale

Parc Naturel Régional du Golfe du Morbihan

Research Outputs

Heritage Mapping Portal

Ounanian, K et al., 2021. Conceptualizing Coastal and Maritime Cultural Heritage through Communities of Meaning and Participation, Ocean and Coastal Management 212,

Handbook: Sustainable governance of marine and coastal heritage methods, tools, and approaches

Forthcoming Special Issue of Maritime Studies (MAST)