Other projects

ArcheoMed

ArcheoMed is a European project that is part of the framework of the Interreg IIIB MEDOCC Programme, with the participation of eleven public institutions from seven countries of the Mediterranean basin. It works mainly on developing shared initiatives and efforts for adding value to the maritime and underwater heritage of the Mediterranean. The National Museum of Underwater Archaeology, ARQUA, the Andalusian Institute for Historical Heritage (IAPH), and the Catalonian Centre for Research are part of “ArcheoMed: the Maritime Cultural Heritage of the Mediterranean."

The ArqueoAula Project

In 2008, the Caixa Catalunya Foundation financed the ArqueoAula Project.R un by Nerea Arqueología Submarina (a company in Malaga) and the University Association of Underwater Activities (AUAS) of the University of Malaga, it creates ways to protect Spain's Underwater Cultural Heritage, and also educates and creates awareness. The study aimed at the public in general and professional and amateur divers in particular – with little or no knowledge of the world of archaeology – works to stress the importance involved in the discovery of a new wreck and the duty to conserve it. Various conferences will be offered as part of this project: they will explain the procedure to follow in the case of a discovery or finding evidence of the existence of any object whose study might be of interest for its historical value.

The companies Nerea Arqueología Submarina and Decasat – set up at the University of Malaga – collaborate with the Government of Andalusia and the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard on the "Underwater Archaeological Site Monitoring Via Satellite" project (VYAMSAT) to prevent the plundering of Spanish wrecks by using a pioneering satellite system.

The Poseidon Project

The International Foundation for the Protection and Dissemination of Art created the Poseidon Project, which was granted 306 million euros for the first five-year phase: funding was provided by the Spanish State, the Government of Andalusia, and the European Union in addition to private donations. The aim of this project is to combat underwater plundering along the Andalusian coast, and it does so using advanced technology in remote sensing equipment, photography, video filming, and transponder-equipped ships as well as with a human team made up of divers, archaeologists, geologists, historians and cataloguers.

The Navigator Network

The Andalusian Institute for Historical Heritage (IAPH) has created the Navigator Network, whose aim is to foster the diffusion of the values, weaknesses and problems involved in the study and conservation of underwater cultural heritage. This project offers us a good way of understanding the concept of "working" on a virtual underwater dig.

Underwater archaeological projects abroad

Spain and Spanish funding at UNESCO are now leading champions for the promotion and protection of underwater cultural heritage, which is a delicate matter on a global level. In addition to managing several working committees and being a part of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Board from the outset, it has also created a joint line of work with the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID), backing programmes in underwater archaeology in Santo Domingo, Cape Verde and Namibia among other places, and in collaboration with various Spanish centres.