Register today for this unique gathering that will initiate a coordinated effort to communicate the importance of our maritime heritage and current maritime endeavours. It will bring together a diverse global array of maritime stakeholders, and provide a unique opportunity for all to form new partnerships towards achieving a common objective: securing a sustainable future through better understanding of our common maritime heritage. Full conference programme available here.

Maritime heritage is the history of human involvement with the oceans and coastal lands and waters—the history of seafaring, navies, ports and waterfront communities, immigration, fishing, the marine environment, the arts, and the law. The world we live in today is a legacy of our maritime heritage. Driven by the Consortium for International Maritime Heritage, the 1st World Congress will launch a coordinated effort, bringing together a diverse array of maritime constituent groups, institutions, and stakeholders from across the world, and providing a unique opportunity for all to form new partnerships towards achieving a common objective—securing a sustainable future through better understanding of our common maritime heritage.

The 2019 Congress will gather in Singapore, which will be celebrating its 200th anniversary.

A Pressing Need

Our world today is an interconnected global economy and, in many respects, an increasingly connected political, social, and cultural landscape. What is not well understood is that our world is very much the result of the last few centuries of our collective mastering of the seas—a process that has resulted in the greatest mass migrations of human populations in history, global commerce, exploitation of the oceans to fuel the explosion of human populations, and an increased rate of climate change as a result of all this activity. These developments have caused many around the world to ponder an uncertain future. The forces and drivers of change that bridged the seas and connected all cultures and economies still drive our world today, perhaps at an ever-increasing rate. Nevertheless, we are more cognizant than ever of the consequences of failing to adjust, as our actions continue to change the world around us.

The 1st World Congress on Maritime Heritage provides an unprecedented opportunity to re-discover our past through the lens of our shared maritime heritage and will help to shed light on how the factors that affected the past need not affect us in the same way. It will also serve to improve our understanding of how modern uses of the ocean, such as energy extraction and maritime transportation, play important roles in the lives of a global society. The 1st World Congress will serve as a focal point for a wide array of groups, institutions, and individuals to learn about their shared heritage. It provides an opportunity to exchange experiences and cultural values worldwide, to shed light on how we are all interconnected and how we accept the challenge to work towards a better understanding and sustainability of our global economy.

Deliberations at the Congress will provide an additional venue for further working towards achieving Goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals, “the world’s best plan to build a better world for people and our planet by 2030,” adopted by the United Nations in 2015: Conserve and Sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas, and Marines Resources for Sustainable Development. Ultimately, it will foster new interactions and help new coalitions to be formed within the wider maritime community to evolve better ways to cooperate towards our shared purposes.

Who Should Attend?

The 1st Congress is designed to attract 300–500 international leaders and participants from diverse sectors including:

• All elements of the maritime industries sector
• Maritime museums and aquariums
• Port cities and coastal regional planners
• Historians, archaeologists, geographers, economists, and other scholars who study the interaction between humans and the ocean

 The Program

A three-day program will combine plenary, thematic, regional and interactive sessions and consist of a wide range of speakers and panelists from diverse sectors. It also includes three evening functions, which will provide the ideal platform for networking. Details are posted on the World Congress website.

For more information on the World Congress on Maritime Heritage and how to register, visit www.wcmh2019.com .