Abstract
Fatal events taking place in World War (WW) I and II have left behind important historical evidence as an underwater cultural heritage (UCH) (e.g., shipwrecks, submerged aircraft, war artifacts), lying in peace at the bottom of, among others, the Mediterranean Sea. The article aims at exploring the challenges for UCH protection/preservation and sustainable exploitation with emphasis on this sea. UCH is so far dealt with in a “silo” approach by marine archaeologists or heritage professionals, who often ignore its potential for serving local sustainable development goals. The paper elaborates on the value, but also the complexity, multi- and inter-disciplinary as well as multi-actors’ nature of UCH management and sustainable exploitation, perceiving these as a “wicked” planning problem. It attempts to illuminate various important dimensions of this problem, such as its glocal (global/local) context; the conflicting and, in certain cases, inconsistent UCH legal protection framework, touching upon a variety of spatial scales; the contemporary policy frameworks favoring UCH management; etc. Exploration of these dimensions reveals open issues or gaps that need to be filled, and sets the ground for a more holistic and integrated UCH research and management approach for building up the yet largely untold, Mediterranean WW I and II UCH narrative; and shifting this area from a sea graveyard to a place of memory and cultural enrichment.
Highlights
“The remembrance of the past through historic sites and artifacts can significantly contribute to peace and reconciliation in the twenty-first century”
There is a heightened recognition of the importance of World War (WW) I and II underwater cultural heritage (UCH) at various policy making levels (e.g., UNESCO, flag nations and coastal states, Europe) as a significant part of our cultural heritage that bears a variety of meanings associated with political, social, economic, cultural, environmental, technical and technological viewpoints [5,6]
Different European coastal and maritime regions are confronted with diversified challenges, e.g., urbanization, climate change impacts, pollution of marine environment [11] that imply the necessity for a more region-specific WW I and II UCH preservation handling
Summary
“The remembrance of the past through historic sites and artifacts can significantly contribute to peace and reconciliation in the twenty-first century”. Various traces of this CH can be identified at the sea bottom which, according to UNESCO (2001) [3] (Article 1), incorporate submerged sites, structures, buildings or works and remnants of human activity; and submerged ships, aircraft and other objects or parts of them and their contents, all of which are placed in an archaeological or natural environment Among these remnants are encountered underwater metal wrecks, which represent tangible traces of naval and near-shore conflicts of WW I and II, and transform in time to fossilized fragments of history and marine micro-ecosystems. Speaking of the European continent, its coastal and maritime regions have often become main WW I and II theaters due to their strategic geographical position, economic importance and role in protecting national borders and sovereignty In such a context, these regions constitute important scenes of WW I and II UCH evidence. Still others are unique examples of a vessel type, or hold iconic status for a nation, or are associated with naval tragedies involving loss of life, e.g., Jewish refugees on the Athina/Rafiah [19]
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