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.
The opening session was greeted by Dr. Martijn Manders, head of the International Maritime Heritage Program of the Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency, Associate Professor in Maritime Archeology at the University of Leiden and member of the ICOMOS International Committee for Underwater Cultural Heritage.
Ana Gonzalez-Medina, Culture Specialist, also conveyed a message of greeting, on behalf of Mr. Youssef Filali-Meknassi, Director of UNESCO Office in Quito.
The Course Coordinator, UNESCO Consultant and Research Professor of the Archeology Program of Externado University, Carlos del Cairo Hurtado, presented the training methodology, made up of 11 learning modules, each lasting one week. They will address the contents of different units of the Manual, except the eleventh, which will focus on the collaborative design of archaeological research project proposals.
