The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, in particular the City of Bremerhaven, will host the next CHARTER in REGIONS workshop “Maritime Cultural Heritage – What skills are needed for preservation?” on 26-27 September 2022 in Bremerhaven in Germany.

The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, in particular the City of Bremerhaven, has a very rich landscape of maritime heritage. The German Maritime Museum, located in Bremerhaven is an institution mostly funded by the German government to present, research and preserve maritime culture and the interaction of humans with the sea. Maritime culture is a main factor for local identity and tourism in this region.

Most of the objects involved are owned by non-governmental societies. Local associations or private heritage owners have not received in-depth training on heritage standards, but have extensive knowledge of the historical and technical background of most objects. As the field of maritime heritage is rather small, maritime objects are also not part of the curriculum in training programmes for heritage professionals.

It is of great importance that stakeholders from both groups are brought together to reflect on how the conservation and presentation of maritime heritage can contribute to a professional approach to cultural heritage in general. It is of major importance to diversify the volunteers in this field. The outcomes of the workshop will be of clear interest to the local community, but will also provide other regions across Europe with a better understanding of the challenges and inspire innovative approaches to address the future skills shortage, not only for the maritime heritage sector, but for other sectors dealing with industrial heritage as well.

The workshop will provide an in-depth analysis of Bremen’s maritime heritage ecosystem in order to engage with regional stakeholders and map their current and future skills needs to support the handover of maritime heritage to new generations. It will promote mutual understanding and feed into the CHARTER Cultural Heritage Alliance with insights, experiences as well as innovative training and employment practices that could inspire and support the cultural heritage sector in general.