The UNESCO project is exploring potential approaches to the serial nomination of the Maritime Silk Routes. There has been much discussion of possible strategies for UNESCO World Heritage nominations of the impact of maritime trade on the cultures and civilizations of East, Southeast, South and Western Asia, often referred to as the Maritime Silk Routes. The goal is to bring together scholars who have worked on the history, archaeology, and heritage of maritime interactions across this vast area to discuss the strategy for such a project.

The workshop will explore issues of chronology, the changing nature of routes, impact, the surviving range of archaeological and built heritage, the role of land routes connecting ports with their hinterlands and production sites, the complexity of port cities, and the approaches to wrecks and cargoes.

The workshop hopes to start the process of defining strategies for further research and as a platform for engaging in dialogue with the State Parties along the routes. A draft working document will be circulated in advance of the meeting, to act as a platform for discussion.

Further details about the workshop will be posted in due course. Currently there are c. 40 participants expected to attend from Japan, Republic of Korea, China, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Iran, Abu Dhabi, Oman, and Tanzania and international scholars from Australia, Canada, France, and the UK.

Further information from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre website: http://whc.unesco.org/en/events/1378/

Any enquiries about the event may be directed to Tim Williams.