Found at: http://www.nave.no/article/articleview/81/1/
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Invitation for heritage network on Lighthouses and Maritime Communication Lines
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Top level
Heritage Networks
At the 3rd NAVE Nortrail transnational meeting in Gothenburg January 2004, it was decided that Norway should host the ”Lighthouses and maritime communication lines” heritage network. A working group representing the Norwegian consortium was formed, with Egil Larsen (Rogaland), Jan Aakvik (Møre og Romsdal) and Linn Knudsen (Vest Agder) as members. Together with project officer Jone Engelsvold, this group has taken the responsibility to form the following text, which is an invitation for the NAVE Nortrail partners to join this heritage network. The invitaton is also sent all partners via e-mail.
The purpose of making a network
NAVE Nortrail aims to organise different heritage networks with the co-operation of a 26 region wide partnership within 7 nations facing the North Sea. The purpose of these networks is to create a place for exchange of experience, to distribute information on mutual interests and discover commonality within the North Sea area. Hopefully this co-operation could lead to identify different aspects of the same North Sea cultural traditions that each of the participating institutions/organisations is managing and represents through their daily activities, and on this basis strengthen the trans-national co-operation cross the North Sea. The members of a Nave Nortrail heritage Network will to a large extend define the development of it. But among others, it is supposed to initiate exchange of information and views among participants, it will work to create linkages between places of particular interests in the partner regions and also aim to be a tool in the process of marketing the Nortrail network of pathways.
Working together
The basis of working together is using e-mail and the NAVE Nortrail intranet. By this means participants will be invited to discuss issues, request help and post articles, which could help other, solve common problems or which could enlighten others. This activity will also become a key to provide new information for the website. The network will be able to assist in marketing the NAVE Nortrail concept, for example by seeking funding to enable Network Workshops. The network “Lighthouses and maritime communication lines” is hosted by the Norwegian consortium, which will take the responsibility for organising activities.
Participants to be requested
Partners are asked to involve organisations (NGO’s), institutions, museums, local authorities or individuals with special competence and interests to this network. The partner itself (as organisation) might also sign up with its representatives.
Please find a registration form attached (at page 4), where partners are asked to register those interested participating, within Friday 2 April 2004.
2. Lighthouses and maritime communication lines
This part of the invitations aims to focus the content of our work with Lighthouses and maritime communication lines. It is to be understood as an introduction for participants to comment on, and to develop by the network as a platform for common understanding and future initiatives.
Main approach
Travel and communication, in one way or another, have through all times played a dominating part in the coastal culture; both within local communities and on a broader scale, between countries and regions. The sea has been the main road along the North Sea shoreline from the Stone Age to modern times. Exchange and interaction within the North Sea areas go way back in time.
Maritime cultural landscape is a term that has been frequently used over the last few decades within research on coastal areas. The term has its origin in modern maritime archaeology, and is used as a term to describe all human relations to the sea, both mental and physiological. Problems related to travel in maritime research is one of the areas that connects the entire North Sea area, and reflects both a common and a diverse maritime cultural landscape at the same time. Within the network we want to emphasize those aspects of the maritime cultural landscape that concerns travel and communication. We want to stress the trans-national aspect, both commonality and diversity.
Travelling by sea in the North Sea areas during the Iron Age had a totally different character than we see today. Travel and communication was based on a different pattern. Today we chose ”the shortest cut” to reach our aims as quickly as possible. Modern technology has by far made this possible for us. Travellers in Iron Age had more concerns connected to weather than we have today. Due to this, the transportation lines - or communication lines have not always followed the same routes. During the Iron Age, the medieval ages and also during more modern times it has been common to travel partly by sea and partly by land. From the 1700/1800 century more and more navigation equipment became available, and seamarks and lighthouses became a more common sight along the coast. While seamarks and lighthouses reflect the modern progress along the shoreline, old coastal burial cairns, place names, isthmuses and traditions tell a different and much older story. They reflect ”the ancient sailing routes”. Today, in some places, it is still possibly to point out these sailing routes. These are some of the main aspects that the network wants to work on in the future. That is to work towards an understanding of the commonalities in travel- and communication patterns within the North Sea area.
Today the lighthouses are the most well-known and visible memories of travel and communication in coastal areas. They are situated all the way along the coasts, and today they stand out as ”sculptures in landscape”. In Norway they have even been called coastal ”stave-churches”.
Lighthouses and sea-marks
Within this network we wish to invite the NAVE Nortrail partners to look closer at in particular two main theme categories connected to the theme lighthouses and seamarks:
1) Heritage and history
The list beneath is to be understood as a preliminary proposition for what the network could work on. We wish the list to expand gradually. It is important that the network participants join us in this process, and we hereby invite all future participants to make comments on the list, and to make suggestions.
a) Technical history
· Naval history
· Nautical history
· Sea maps
· ”Modern times”
· The lighthouse system
b) Cultural history
·Origin > the need for lighthouses and sea marks/the initiative to have one
· The impact on travel patterns
· ”Modern times”
· Consequences of the technical progress
· Life at the lighthouse
· An international or trans-national common understanding
2.Future use
There are several organisations and institutions that already have put a lot of effort into the ”after use” of lighthouses. In Norway soon all lighthouses will be run fully automatically, and there will no longer be people at the stations. ”Kystverket” (Norwegian Directorate of Coastal affairs) is the owner of the lighthouses and are now in a phase where they establish agreements with different organisations and institutions for the purpose of hiring lighthouses. Within the NAVE Nortrail heritage network ”Lighthouses and maritime communication lines” we wish to focus on this ”life after death” aspect connected to the lighthouses. Important questions might be; how can these challenges be met?
It is our wish that these questions and issues could be set for discussion within the network, allowing participants involved in such challenges to come together and make connections. The following list is a suggestion on different themes to discuss as a start:
·Vernacular buildings and future use
·Lighthouses and tourism
·Money issues
·How to protect the buildings
· Future plans
Ancient sailing routes
This theme is concerned with the prehistoric maritime cultural landscape. Interesting topics to be discussed within the heritage network might be:
·Sailing routes
·Coastal burial cairns
·Harbours, piers and wharfs
·Shipwrecks
·Traditions
·Place names
·Portages (the shortest stretch of land in any area between two waters. The portages are part of a fundamentally amphibious way of transport in prehistoric and partly also historic times)
The network will be invited to expand this list, and to elaborate particular interesting themes within it.
3. Taking the network into action; first step
The section above includes propositions for themes we think could be discussed within the heritage network “Lighthouses and ancient communication lines”. The list will expand or be altered in parallel to the progress made within the network.
On this basis the NAVE Nortrail partners are asked to distribute this information to all potential participants for the network within your region.
Further, NAVE Nortrail partners are asked to take responsibility for registration of interest for the participation within its region. Please have the following registration form filled in (for the required number of copies) and have it returned for Linn Knudsen, Vest Agder at linn.knudsen@vaf.no
within Friday 2 April 2004
Partner Region
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Name
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Institution/organisation
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Position
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e mail address
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Special interests/
Comments to the invitation
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On behalf of the Norwegian consortium, Nave Nortrail
Jan Aakvik Egil Larsen Linn Knudsen