Driven by wind and water: The promise of maritime heritage for cities with waterways, ports and ships
Het artikel van Martine van Lier dat eerder in de Scheepspost is opgenomen, is ook doorgedrongen in Engeland, waar het is opgenomen op de website van PortCityFutures.
Maritime heritage is part of our oldest heritage. It is a reflection of historic innovation and has been key to the growth of port cities around the world. Maritime heritage can therefore help inspire solutions for current and urgent challenges. In this blog post, heritage consultant Martine van Lier argues that historic vessels, ports, waterways and harbor buildings are not only culturally, historically and environmentally valuable; they can also be the motor of sustainable spatial and economic development.
Maritime heritage is one of the oldest kinds of heritage, and yet still a ‘new kid on the block’ in the heritage sector. Whether it is a five-thousand-year-old dugout canoe, a nineteenth century botter (wooden sailing fishing vessel) or a beurtvaarder (freight and passenger vessel sailing certain time-planned routes), maritime heritage has provided inspiration on how to deal with our landscape and nature for five millennia. It provides lessons on adaptation and offers inspiration for new approaches in times of climate change. We can learn a lot from the centuries-old experience of maritime heritage within port cities, wet delta landscapes and the capricious sea climate, in order to address contemporary challenges of sustainability and climate adaptation.