The Ocean We Want: Cultural Heritage and the UN Ocean Decade

The Ocean We Want: Cultural Heritage and the UN Ocean Decade

A Change and Innovation cluster event, Vere Gordon Childe Centre

Tuesday 15 September, 6.00–7.30pm | Vere Gordon Childe Centre Boardroom

The ocean is changing faster than our institutions are. Warming waters, rising seas and biodiversity loss are remaking the marine environment – and the heritage that sits within it. Cultural heritage is essential to how people engage with that change: it provides historical context for marine policy, strengthens public understanding of sustainable ocean futures, and connects communities to the challenges ahead. From Indigenous stewardship to maritime archaeology, heritage supports “the science we need for the ocean we want.”

Meeting that change demands innovative methods and partnerships, as well as new ways of thinking about knowledge production. As a recognised partner of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the Ocean Decade Heritage Network (ODHN) leads the global cultural heritage response through its Cultural Heritage Framework Programme (CHFP), building a network that links researchers, practitioners and communities, and working to embed heritage in ocean science, policy and management.

The Change and Innovation cluster at the Vere Gordon Childe Centre (VGCC) welcomes three speakers working across Australia, South Asia and Europe – in Sydney for the 22nd International Congress of Maritime Museums – for a panel discussion on what the Ocean Decade means for heritage researchers and institutions, and how to get involved.

• Charlotte Jarvis (National Maritime Museum, Netherlands) introduces the Ocean Decade, the CHFP, and the practicalities of applying for Ocean Decade accreditation.

• Amer Bazl Khan (MaritimEA Research) presents on underwater cultural heritage in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific, and the ODHN’s regional work as a partner of the Ocean Decade.

• Dr Andrew Viduka (Australian Government, Underwater Cultural Heritage) presents GIRT Scientific Divers, a citizen science Decade Action bringing volunteer divers into the monitoring of Australia’s underwater cultural heritage.

• Chaired by Dr Natali Pearson, Change and Innovation cluster co-lead.

This event builds on previous initiatives convened by the Change and Innovation cluster, including the Sea Changes Symposium: ‘Power, Money and Technology in the Maritime World: new interdisciplinary approaches to historical shipwrecks in the Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific’, in November 2025.

About the Vere Gordon Childe Centre

The Vere Gordon Childe Centre (VGCC) is a multi-disciplinary research centre situated within the School of Humanities at the University of Sydney, The Centre aims to understand global human diversity through the study of material culture, artistic representation, and intangible heritage. The Centre takes its name from University of Sydney graduate Vere Gordon Childe (1892 – 1957) notable for his achievements in archaeology and for his influence on the Australian labour movement.

VGCC Director, Associate Professor James Flexner, is a historical archaeologist. The Deputy Director, Dr Joseph (Seppi) Lehner is an archaeologist, and the Centre Executive includes specialists in a wide range of fields both within and outside the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. More information: https://www.sydney.edu.au/arts/our-research/centres-institutes-and-groups/the-vere-gordon-childe-centre/about-us.html

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Charlotte Jarvis is a maritime historian and archaeologist based at the National Maritime Museum, Netherlands, researching topics from early modern wooden shipbuilding to threats to Ocean Heritage. She holds degrees in maritime archaeology from Texas A&M University and history from Durham University and specialises in bringing archaeological research into the museum’s exhibitions. She has research and excavation experience across the Atlantic world and her previous research included alcohol consumption at sea and the archaeological footprint of Dutch bottles on shipwrecks; superstition at sea; and women’s work on early modern Dutch shipyards.

Amer Bazl Khan is the founder and director of MaritimEA Research. He is a Maritime Archaeologist with over 20 years’ experience working in Pakistan and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Amer has worked extensively on underwater archaeological site investigations, cultural heritage management, maritime heritage protection policy, marine protected area management, and regional capacity development initiatives. He is an expert member of the International Committee on the Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH), an international scientific committee for the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) that advises the UNESCO Secretariat in matters related to the 2001 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. He is also a member of the ICOMOS Pakistan National Committee. Amer is Vice President of the Nautical Archaeological Society in the UK and has served on the Executive Council and as Vice President of the Australasian Institute of Maritime Archaeology. He is also the South Asian regional representative for the ODHN, a recognised partner of the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 and member of the Maritime Archaeology Committee of the International Congress of Maritime Museums.

Dr Andrew (Andy) Viduka is a maritime archaeologist, archaeological objects conservator, underwater cultural heritage manager and author, employed by the Australian Government as the Assistant Director of Underwater Cultural Heritage. In addition to leading the Australian Underwater Cultural Heritage Program, Andy is actively involved in maritime archaeological projects and capacity building training, continuing his research interest in linking community outcomes with the discovery and protection of underwater cultural heritage. In 2018 he founded the citizen science project Gathering Information via Recreational and Technical (GIRT) Scientific Divers, which in 2024 became an endorsed action of the Ocean Decade. He is the Director of GIRT Scientific Divers Pty Ltd, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a Vice-President of ICOMOS – ICUCH, an ICOMOS – ICAHM member, a Board Member of the ODHN, a member of the Gallipoli Historical Underwater Park Advisory Board, an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of New England (Armidale, Australia), a member of the Australian Citizen Science Association and a Member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Maritime Archaeology.

Dr Natali Pearson is a DECRA Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Heritage Studies in the Discipline of Archaeology, School of Humanities, at the University of Sydney, where she co-leads the Change and Innovation cluster at the Vere Gordon Childe Centre. She also holds Adjunct Academic Status at Flinders University. Natali's research focuses on maritime heritage in Southeast Asia. Her current project, funded by a Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE250100827), examines maritime heritage diplomacy and the complex legacies of sunken World War II warships in the region.

Venue:
Vere Gordon Childe Centre Boardroom
Level 4, Madsen Building
Click here for a map

Image: Ocean Life - watercolor by James M. Sommerville, Christian Schussele