Strengthening underwater archeology in Latin America and the Caribbean

UNESCO Virtual Course on the Training Manual for UNESCO Founding Course on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean has started with the shared aspiration to train underwater archaeologists capable not only of characterizing submerged heritage, but also of contributing to its protection.

The situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic has implied a challenge for the completion of this course, which had to be converted from a theoretical-practical training to an exclusively theoretical and virtual one.

Today, the challenge has been met. This initiative begins to materialize, adding to the numerous actions historically developed by the Regional Office for Culture after the approval of the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, aimed at promoting protection of the UCH and accessions to the Convention in the region, which is currently characterized by the highest degree of ratification of this normative instrument.