Call for Papers - UK Maritime Heritage Forum 2-4 October 2024

Posted: Tuesday 19th March 2024

Venue: National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Falmouth

Date: 2-4 October 2024

The UK Maritime Heritage Forum this year will meet at the home of the National Small Boat Collection in Cornwall.

The forum is an opportunity to come together and reflect on those aspects of maritime heritage practice that connect us all whether we care for static collections or operating vessels, whether large museum or small volunteer team.

This year the forum invites innovative papers on the theme of Britain’s Coastal Experience, from small boats to the politics of contemporary collecting. Topics could include:

• Contemporary collecting coastal resilience
• The politics of collecting maritime stories such as coastal economies, climate crisis etc.
• Challenges of heritage conservation (this could include skills conservation and initiatives to overcome the skills gap)
• Small Boats, Big Stories: social relevance of small boats collections
• Interpreting the sea; new narratives and ways of presenting our maritime heritage. 

Proposals

• 20-minute illustrated paper – these can provide either an overview of an issue or focus on a case study. Speakers are asked to provide a 20-minute illustrated presentation.
• 5-minute summary – an opportunity to share your updates, ideas and experiences of change, presented as a short verbal update.
• Poster session - display a flipchart-sized poster during conference breaks to share updates on something that you’re working on in an informal, friendly environment, and to talk one to one with other delegates about your project.

Proposals may come from within the maritime heritage community or from beyond. Insights and best practice from other sectors will be particularly welcomed. The UKHMF traditionally provides a platform for connecting a wide range of different voices, specialisms and organisations and the final conference programme will be structured accordingly.

The conference is an in-person event. Speakers contributing 20-minute papers will have the conference fee waived. However, if your institution is able to pay conference fees this will make a huge difference to our ability to include others who may otherwise struggle to attend.  Unfortunately, we are unable to routinely meet travel and accommodation costs but will prioritise assisting speakers who do not have institutional support.

How to submit

Please submit a summary of your proposal in up to 300 words, or express interest in presenting a poster, by 12 noon on 10^th May 2024 to Clare.Hunt@NMRN.org.uk. Please state whether you wish to present for 5 or for 20 minutes.

The final UKMHF programme will be released by the summer of 2024 with full information for speakers and delegates.