About
How can past and present human-ocean interactions help us achieve the ocean we want?
The Cultural Heritage Framework Programme (CHFP) is an endorsed action of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-30) coordinated by the University of Edinburgh on behalf of the Ocean Decade Heritage Network (ODHN). It is the first UN-level global platform bringing marine cultural heritage practitioners together with ocean science and policy stakeholders. To date, it is the only endorsed Ocean Decade programme focused on cultural heritage.
At the core of CHFP is the view that marine cultural heritage, including intangible heritage such as traditional and ecological knowledge and practices, and tangible heritage such as shipwrecks and coastal structures, represents an essential medium through which we can provide informed solutions to future challenges, develop resilience, and motivate inclusive sustainable adaptation.
Bringing together
marine cultural heritage
ocean science
& policy
Aims
By the end of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-30), the historical dimension of people’s relationships with the sea will be integrated within ocean science and policy.
The ‘ocean we want’ will be inspired and informed by the long and diverse histories and living heritage of people and the sea.
Cultural heritage can and will contribute effectively to sustainable development over the course of the UN Ocean Decade. The impacts of Decade Actions relating to cultural heritage will be greater together than they would be individually.
