The controversy of the Lamu Coal Power Station, Kenya

Wycliffe Omondi 

The scramble for Africa’s abundant, unexploited minerals and natural resources has of late invited a new scramble by powers from within and without the continent. These new trends, especially along the coast of East Africa, are closely linked with oil and gas prospecting industries, major seaports’ and road network constructions which are stipulated to bring development to East Africa and Kenya in particular. However, more often such development projects may also be potential threats to the rich marine cultural heritage if not well planned.

Ever since I started working in the heritage sector I have always been fascinated by the antagonistic relationships between cultural heritage conservation and development. Coincidentally, I am currently a PhD candidate at the University of Nottingham where my research focuses on the critical examination and analysis of cultural heritage conservation as a driver for local community sustainable development with specific reference sites along the Kenya coast.

One area that has of late attracted major infrastructural development in Kenya is Lamu archipelago located on the northern coast of Kenya. The area has been earmarked as the convergence point for a US$29.2 billion Lapsset (Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport) Corridor program by the Government of Kenya (GoK). The archipelago is a system of six inhabited islands that are closely interconnected not only with the Islands but also with the surrounding environment including the mainland, in terms of fishing grounds, culture, family ties, mangrove forests and farmlands.

The Lapsset program has several components including the development of a seaport with 32 deep sea berths at Manda Bay (three berths are currently under construction), a standard gauge railway line to Juba and Addis Ababa, a road network, oil pipelines to and from South Sudan and Ethiopia, an oil refinery, three international airports and three resort cities at Lamu, Isiolo and Lake Turkana shores corridor. This program is part of the Government of Kenya’s national development strategy Vision 2030 economic pillar which aims at transforming Kenya into an industrialized middle income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030 in a “clean and secure environment.”

Controversially, a coal power plant, Lamu Coal Power Station (LCPS), is to be developed in order to operate as part of Lapsset. Alongside the development of Lamu Port, resorts and the oil pipelines this power station is envisaged as one of the key catalysts in the development of Lamu. It must be built to provide electricity to make the development and subsequent habitation possible.

Coal Development site in Lamu Kenya

The proposed LCPS is located on the mainland near Lamu Island’s Old Town – a Unesco World Heritage site. The Old Town is considered one of the oldest and best preserved living Swahili towns whose golden age is believed to have been the period between 17th century and 19th century under Omani control. Inscription of Lamu Old Town into Unesco’s World Heritage List in 2001 was due to its architecture and urban structures that reveal the interaction of cultural influences of Africa, Asia and Europe over centuries to produce a distinctive Swahili culture. In addition it is considered a significant centre for the study of Islamic and Swahili cultures. A traditional function it has retained for centuries up to date.

Coast of Lamu Kenya

Due to the fragile nature of Lamu’s environment and culture, concerns were raised by local community members and NGOs’ such as Save LamuNatural Justice and Katiba Institute on the potential irreversible changes on the delicate natural environment and rapid disruption of the towns cultural traditions which forms an integral part of Lamu identity.

Despite local opposition to the coal power plant, the Government of Kenya awarded Amu Power Company (APC) the development rights in September 2014 (deal valued at approximately US$2 billion). APC is a consortium of Centum Investments Company Limited (a Kenyan private equity firm), Gulf Energy (a Kenyan energy generating company) and Sichuan Electric Power Design and Consulting Company Limited (SEDC) which is a subsidiary of Power Construction Corporation of China (Power China). Subsequently in mid- 2017, a 25 year Power purchase agreement between Lamu Coal Power Station with the investor Amu power, was singed in China witnessed by the President of Kenya, with guarantee from African Development Bank, even though the project is a private investment. “The President’s presence at the signing was likely arranged by the promoters of the project to shore up support for it,” according to David Ndii (2017), a Kenyan Daily Nation Newspaper columnist. However, the construction has repeatedly been halted due to opposition by environmentalists and human rights groups, for the plant will lead to air pollution, destruction of mangroves and breeding grounds for endangered species of marine turtles, fish and other marine life. The latest suspension of the project is a decision made in 2018 by a Kenyan court, sending the dispute back to National Environment Tribunal.

Obviously Kenya does not need to buy wind or solar along the coast of Kenya.  According to World Economic Forum Report 2018, wind has no clean-up costs either. It stands to reason then, that the wind plant beats coal hands down on cost and efficiency. For the case of LCPS, coal will have to be purchased and ferried all the way from South Africa to Lamu, hence incurring additional cost.

Last week, more intrigue emerged about the coal plant, after Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a US based philanthropic research and analyses organization that focuses on financial and economic issues related to energy and the environment, revealed in its report entitled, The Proposed Lamu Coal Plant: The Wrong Choice for Kenya,’ argues that even if the plant never generates any power Kenya will still have to pay heavily for generated electricity.  “That the Coal project true costs during the years 2024 through 2037 could average as high as US$22 to US$75  per KWh.” That is three to 10 times the company’s initial 2014 projection. IEEFA, also admits that the planned 981MW Lamu coal plant is outright a poor investment—“except for the few companies backing the proposal and the Chinese firm contracted to build it.”  Therefore “Kenya should cancel the project.”

Kenya has also pledged in several international platforms to move the country to 100% renewable energy – the coal plant is surely the antithesis of this aim.

On the 24th June the National Environment Tribunal (NET)  in Nairobi revoked a permit issued for the contentious project. They cancelled an environmental impact assessment licence for the Lamu coal project, ruling that “the circumstances under which it was issued were flawed.”

However, will this judgement stand?

Will there be an appeal?

This happened in a previous court case between Lapsset and Lamu community members in April 2018  where despite the fact that the High Court of Kenya declared that the construction of the Lamu Port failed basic constitutional and legal requirements (including violations of legal procedure on public participation, the right to information, the right to a clean and healthy environment and right to culture) and the government should pay US $17Million in compensation to 4,600 fishermen in Lamu County,  the Kenya Ports Authority nonetheless filed a Notice of Appeal on the grounds that, “the judges of the lower court gave orders which had not been pleaded” and successfully obtained orders from the Court of Appeal suspending the implementation of the judgment. Consequently, despite the judgment, the Lamu Port construction continues unaffected by the decision, dashing petitioners’ expectations of seeing the project proponents take tangible steps to implement the court’s judgment. Equally the fishermen are still waiting for their compensation.

What is the way forward for Lamu community members, if the judgement is upheld or otherwise? Are the project planners sensitive to heritage? Do they understand that heritage is intertwined with a people’s identity, worldview and their livelihoods?

Cyclone Idai – hunger and devastation in Mozambique

A very powerful article on the human stories behind the utter devastation caused by https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/eye-of-the-storm/

Thanks to ⁦⁩ for taking the time to listen to them. It’s not too late to donate to ⁦

Marine heritage and sustainable development – Jon Henderson

I’m just back from the Society for American Archaeology’s (SAA) 84th Annual Meeting in Albuquerque where I took part in the HumAnE Archaeology Session organised by Carly Ameen and Naomi Sykes from the University of Exeter. Through a series of papers the session looked at using combined human-animal-environmental (HumAnE) data and how that can be analysed using a variety of arts and science-based techniques to unpick and model long-term bio-cultural dynamics.

Archaeology has always been interdisciplinary but I think we are at an exciting point with sessions like this stressing how long-term archaeological data, bio-cultural data and deep time data can inform solutions to the current global problems facing humanity. Archaeologists are uniquely placed to contribute a deep-time perspective on contemporary humanitarian issues, like those identified in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which are not exclusively modern phenomenon. Deep-time archaeological data can be collated, analysed and presented to help inform solutions to modern global challenges such as the effects of intensive food production, urbanisation, globalisation, climate change, disease transmission and inter-cultural conflict.

Using data from Rising from the Depths, my paper examined the legacy of the oceans and how data from past marine exploitation can help inform the sustainable development agenda. SDG14 Life Below Water recognises the economic and social benefits that sustainable use of marine resources can provide, including enhanced food security, sustainable energy generation, and poverty eradication through marine orientated livelihood opportunities. Providing deep-time data over millennia, the marine archaeological resource has more to offer than solutions based on tourism. For example, coastal management strategies and conservation projects rely on short-term baseline data that, at best, cover little more than a century. As a result, projects and strategies put into place are limited, and do not fully reflect ecosystem dynamics or the relative resilience of different species to the effects of both human activities and changes driven by long term climatic and other environmental factors.

Next month I’m off to the 1st Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Global Planning Meeting for the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development in Copenhagen to make the case for considering marine heritage data in formulating sustainable solutions to the problems facing our oceans. While environmental sciences and ecological approaches have had a major role in the development of solutions, the potential role of marine cultural heritage as a usable resource and the long-term cultural importance of the marine environment are still not being properly considered. It is my belief that a marine cultural heritage outlook (prioritising human interaction with the sea in all its diversity) could provide the conceptual framework that unites, stimulates and informs interdisciplinary responses to the challenges set out in SDG 14. Wish me luck!

Mozambique Cyclone Disaster

We are shocked to see the awful news from Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, where tropical cyclone Idai has caused widespread destruction and loss of life. While it is well known that low-lying coastal cities and towns are enormously vulnerable to sea-level rise and extreme weather events, current estimates suggest this the deadliest tropical cyclone on record to have hit southern Africa.

The cyclone made landfall at the port of Beira, Mozambique’s fourth-largest city, with officials reporting that almost every building in this city of more than 500,000 people has been damaged. Early estimates for Mozambique suggest that up to a 1,000 people may have died. With the infrastructure of the area destroyed and large areas of coastal land now underwater, the worry is that this disaster could affect hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people.

Mozambique is vulnerable to periodic flooding during the rainy season but the harrowing pictures of inland seas with houses submerged up to roof level and people stranded on them only serve to illustrate how catastrophic this event has been.

To donate to the relief effort follow the links below:

https://crisisrelief.un.org/Mozambique-flash-appeal

https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/how-you-can-help/emergencies/mozambique-cyclone

Remembering Sebastiano Tusa

A minute of silence to remember Sebastiano Tusa on Monday, 11 March at the UNESCO Ministerial meeting on Underwater Cultural Heritage in Malindi, Kenya.

Professor Tusa was on his way to the meeting to deliver the keynote speech when he was tragically killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash at Addis Ababa on Sunday.

The maritime archaeological world is in shock. Professor Tusa was an internationally renowned scholar and a champion of underwater archaeology in Italy and around the world. He was one of the drafters of the original UNESCO 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage and in 2004 was appointed as the first Superintendent of the Sea directing the Sicilian Soprintendenza del Mare marine archaeology team. More recently he was appointed Assesore for Cultural Heritage for the Government of Sicily. He directed archaeological projects in Italy, Malta, Tunisia, Libya, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Japan and Kenya and was the author of 700 archaeological publications.

He had great plans for future underwater research in Kenya.

We owe him so much. His passion and leadership will be greatly missed.

 

Representing Africa in British Museums – Rosalie Hans

Rosalie Hans

Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, 8th June 2018

This one-day conference, organised to celebrate the newly renovated African displays at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (RAMM), comprised of presentations by a great number of well-known curators of African collections in British museums. Organised in association with the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of the University of Exeter and chaired by Professor Timothy Insoll, the day started with this introduction. It highlighted some of the criticisms students have made of African galleries in museums over the past couple of years like the challenged of displaying the geography of Africa, its supposed timelessness and the debate between presenting African artefacts as art or in a more contextualised setting.

Following this critical note, speakers such as Dr Zachary Kingdon, Africa curator of the World Museum in Liverpool and Dr Sarah Worden, senior curator of African collections at the National Museums of Scotland, detailed the history of their institution’s African galleries. They showed how the representation of Africa has radically changed from the colonial and racist mind-set of the late 19th and early 20th century to a more inclusive curatorial practice that tries to reflect the origins of the collections and its difficult colonial legacies and tell more accurate stories about Africa. Still, Malik Saako Mahmud, Senior Curator at the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board pointed out that there is continuing work to do to ‘decolonise’ African collections and their displays further.

Dr Malika Kraamer, curator of World Cultures at Leicester Arts and Museums Service, Professor John Mack of the Sainsbury Research Unit and Dr Chris Wingfield, Senior Curator of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, focused on how research into, and reconsideration of, certain types of objects can change the way Africa is represented in exhibitions. Kraamer’s plea for a rethinking of kente cloth in museum collections and Wingfield’s research into missionary collections from Southern Africa emphasised that the agency of African people needs to be considered when looking at and displaying collections. It is a challenge faced by many curators in British museums that the information available about collections is often limited to the European collectors and does not include information about the African people that were involved in the process. Tony Eccles, curator of ethnography at the RAMM, described how approaching the redisplay in Exeter through the theme of ‘commerce’ allowed him to circumvent some of these issues by presenting artefacts as products in processes of interaction rather than as hermetic works of art. Nevertheless, Professor John Mack argued that objects formerly described as ‘fetishes’, but more accurately called nkisi, are now considered in a more contemporary artistic manner which allows for their appreciation beyond a historical relegation to the realm of ritual and magic.

By reflecting on recent temporary exhibitions related to African collections, Dr John Giblin, formerly of the British Museum and now Head of Collections at the Royal Museums of Scotland, and Stephen Welsh and Campbell Price of the Manchester Museum, opened up the discussion to the perception of Africa by visitors. Giblin shared some of the findings of the evaluation of a South Africa exhibition at the British Museum and how the British public responded to a more critical approach to the British role in South Africa’s history. Welsh and Price emphasised the museum’s work with diverse local communities and advocated for a move from a multicultural vision of the museum to a poly-vocal one, stimulating dialogue and participation from diverse audiences.

All in all, the conference enabled many fruitful conversations during the day and provided much food for thought for the future. It is clear that, apart from practical constraints, the representation of Africa in British museums is an on-going process of rethinking that needs to be reflected upon with many stakeholders, not in the least with those people whose culture and history are presented in the galleries.

Workshop at University of Dar es Salaam

On 3rd July, Stephanie Wynne-Jones and Paul Lane of the RfTD team were at the University of Dar es Salaam for a workshop discussing community heritage programmes in Tanzania. The RftD grant calls were discussed, and much valuable feedback was given by our Tanzanian colleagues. Dr Emmanuel Kessy, our regional coordinator was also present and helped structure discussions. We look forward to working with our UDSM colleagues in future as we develop RftD projects in the region.

Find out more about the CONCH project here.

 

Rising from the Depths cited as best practice at UNESCO meeting

The Rising from the Depths project was cited as an example of best practice in sustainable marine heritage management at the Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Body on the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage last week (23rd April 2018). Ulrike Guerin, UNESCO Programme Specialist responsible for the 2001 Convention, stated that the project could act as ‘a driver for cohesion between social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development’. The exchange day meeting, held on the 23rd April at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, focused on the potential role marine cultural heritage could play in in the understanding, promotion and protection of Oceans within the forthcoming United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). It was attended by representatives of the 58 state signatories to the 2001 Convention and held in collaboration with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), the body responsible for the organization of marine science within the UN system.

Dr Jon Henderson, who attended the meeting on behalf of Rising from the Depths project, said ‘The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are setting the global agenda and, as a result, are going to be instrumental to academic research for the next 12 years. If marine cultural heritage is to progress, establish itself in modern practice, and realise its full potential, then it needs to respond to these challenges. Rising from the Depths has a key role to play in this as it is harnessing the potential of marine heritage to inform solutions to real challenges in East Africa such as rapid coastal development, climate change and unsustainable fishing practices.’

 

JOB OPENING: Rising from the Depths Project Manager

Rising from the Depths Project Manager (fixed term)

The University of Nottingham has received funding from the RC UK’s Global Challenges Research Fund which is a £1.5Bn initiative aiming to tackle global challenges in the national interest. The project ‘Rising from the Depths: Utilising Marine Cultural Heritage in East Africa to help develop sustainable social, economic and cultural benefits’ is a multi-partner interdisciplinary research project with an ambitious programme for delivery.

Rising from the Depths will identify ways in which marine cultural heritage can benefit coastal communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar. The project will establish and maintain a trans-boundary and cross-sector network of arts and humanities-led researchers, government officers, scientists, policy makers, UN officials, NGOs, ICT professionals and specialists working in heritage, infrastructure and the offshore industry, to identify new opportunities and methodologies for utilising the marine cultural heritage of East Africa to stimulate alternative sources of income, foster local identities, and enhance the value and impact of overseas aid in the marine sector. Information about the project can be found at: https://risingfromthedepths.com.

The University of Nottingham is leading the network and is seeking to appoint a Project Manager. The successful candidate will have previous experience of administration and project management as well as proven experience of financial planning and reporting. You will have excellent oral and written communication skills with proven experience of maintaining effective working relationships and experience of working with a diverse set of stakeholders including senior academics and funders.

In the role you will be required to manage and coordinate the programme of international network and engagement events (including booking travel and arranging all aspects of the events), support and manage the distribution of a series of project funding calls, act as a liaison point for all project members, network members and external partners, monitor and report on the project budget ensuring all expenditure is in line with University Policies, are ODA compliant and are in line with the terms and conditions of the grant. Other duties include supporting all project meetings, assisting with the production of reports and other material for dissemination as well as ensuring effective delivery of day-to-day administration for the project. The role holder will be based in the UK.

The project team will require the successful candidate to work flexibly to meet the objectives of what will be a challenging programme, requiring effective monitoring and organising people across a range of countries. You should have proven experience of prioritising changing workloads, meeting tight deadlines and setting and achieving milestones. You will have excellent IT skills and experience of using these within a project management setting.

This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract until 31st September 2021 and is a full time post. Job share arrangements may be considered.

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr Jon Henderson, tel: 0115-9514842 or email
Jon.henderson@nottingham.ac.uk. Please note that applications sent directly to this email address will not be accepted.

The University of Nottingham is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

The closing date for completed applications is: Monday 26 March 2018

Salary: £29799 to £30688 per annum (pro-rata if applicable) depending on skills and experience.

 

For more information on the post and to apply online go here:

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/jobs/currentvacancies/ref/ARTS030218X1

 

JOB OPENING: Rising from the Depths Post-Doc Position (Anthropology)

Rising from the Depths Post Doctoral Researcher (Anthropology)

The University of Roehampton is looking for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join our Life Sciences department as part of an AHRC-funded research project, Rising from the Depths: Utilising Marine Cultural Heritage in East Africa to help develop sustainable social, economic and cultural benefits. Applicants should have a PhD in social anthropology, have conducted ethnographic research in Mozambique, Tanzania or Kenya, and have a good knowledge of one of the local languages. Knowledge of Swahili would be especially useful. The successful candidate will be able to develop their own research project within the remit of the project – particularly in the areas of cultural memory, indigenous understandings of the past, relationships with marine/maritime cultures. You will help with identifying potential areas of research, relating to the themes above, for 4 PhD projects that will form part of the overall project and work with other researchers in the team to explore issues relating to marine cultural heritage.

This post is available on a fixed-term basis for 12 months.

For enquiries relating to this position please contact Professor Garry Marvin, g.marvin@roehampton.ac.uk.

This is an exciting time for the University; our new £35m state-of-the art library has just opened and we are continuing to develop a number of external partnerships across the globe.

We have a strong emphasis on supporting our students to reach their full potential in order to launch themselves onto successful graduate careers and we are embarking on a radical programme of enhancement in learning and teaching across all our academic areas. ‘In the Complete University Guide 2018, Roehampton is the highest-ranked modern university in London. Modern, or new, universities are defined as those granted university status post-1992. Complete University Guide does not itself define modern universities and does not produce a separate league table in which these are ranked.’

The University has a beautiful, vibrant parkland campus, is located in the heart of south-west London and offers excellent facilities for researching, learning, teaching and working.

To find out more information about the role and what we’re looking for, visit the Working at Roehampton section of our website where you will find full details, how to apply, as well as further information about the benefits of working for us.

http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/Working-at-Roehampton/

The closing date for completed applications is: Thursday 1 March 2018

It is expected that interviews will be held on: during March 2018

The University is an equal opportunities and ‘disability confident’ employer

For more information on the post and to apply online go here:

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BHQ056/postdoctoral-research-associate/

 

JOB OPENING: Rising from the Depths Post-Doc Position (Heritage/Development)

Rising from the Depths Post Doctoral Researcher (Heritage/Development)

The University of Nottingham has received funding from the RC UK’s Global Challenges Research Fund which is a £1.5Bn initiative aiming to tackle global challenges in the national interest. The project ‘Rising from the Depths: Utilising Marine Cultural Heritage in East Africa to help develop sustainable social, economic and cultural benefits’ is a multi-partner interdisciplinary research project with an ambitious programme for delivery.

The Rising from the Depths Network will identify ways in which marine cultural heritage can directly benefit coastal communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar. The project will establish and maintain a trans-boundary and cross-sector network of arts and humanities-led researchers, government officers, scientists, policy makers, UN officials, NGOs, ICT professionals and specialists working in heritage, infrastructure and the offshore industry, to identify new opportunities and methodologies for protecting and utilising the marine cultural heritage of East Africa to stimulate alternative sources of income, foster local identities, and enhance the value and impact of overseas aid in the marine sector.

The University of Nottingham is leading the network and is seeking a PDRA with a research interests in East African cultural heritage and/or development studies. Applicants should have a PhD in a related archaeology, heritage or development field. Experience of working on research or development projects in East Africa would be an advantage. The PDRA will have specific responsibility for scoping and reporting on development and heritage methodologies that could be applicable to conducting, assessing and monitoring Arts and Humanities led research in an East African context.

The person appointed will be expected to plan and conduct work in close collaboration with the project Co-Is, PDRAs at other institutions as well as with project partners in the region.  They will be responsible for writing up their work for publication. The person appointed will be based in the Department of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Nottingham and is expected to work in close collaboration with our University project partners (Roehampton, Bournemouth, Ulster, York, Uppsala in Sweden and Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique) and engage with organisations part of the network (including UNESCO, The World Monuments Fund, The British Museum, the British Institute in East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association). The person appointed will be expected to use their initiative and creativity to identify areas for research development and extend their own research portfolio.

This is a part time position working 29 hours per week (0.8 FTE), fixed term until 1 April 2019.

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr Jon Henderson, tel: 0115-9514842 or email jon.henderson@nottingham.ac.uk. Please note that applications sent directly to this email address will not be accepted.

The University of Nottingham is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

For more information on the post and to apply online go here:

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/jobs/currentvacancies/ref/ARTS028318

JOB OPENING: Rising from the Depths Post-Doc Position (Geosciences/Physical Geography)

Rising from the Depths Post-Doctoral Researcher (Geosciences/Physical Geography)

The Faculty of Science & Technology, University of Bournemouth, is seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and competent researcher to contribute to the Rising from the Depths Network project.

The post offers the opportunity to join an interdisciplinary team of academic staff, post-doctoral researchers and PhD students, providing a stimulating and challenging opportunity to develop research with social impact in East Africa. The person appointed will be based in the Department of Life & Environmental Sciences at Bournemouth University and is expected to work in close collaboration with project partners (Nottingham, Roehampton, Ulster, York, Uppsala in Sweden and Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique) and engage with organisations part of the network.

Ideally, you will have a PhD in a subjected related to geosciences or physical geography or demonstrate clear evidence of research experience at a commensurate level. You will have experience in analysing quantitative and qualitative data to quantify/assess environmental changes in coastal and/or marine settings. A track record of publications in journals is essential. You will need to be self-motivated and a team player with good written and oral communication skills.

The successful candidate will have specific responsibility for scoping and reporting on anthropogenic and climate-driven environmental changes and coastal management practices affecting risks and preservation of marine cultural heritage in East Africa. The key objective of the work will be to collate and analyse data to identify areas where coastal and marine cultural heritage are at greater risk from human-induced and climate-driven environmental change. The PDRA will contribute strongly to the project by creatively applying relevant research techniques and methods to develop the research agenda and be actively engaged in collaborative work, in writing new research proposals and disseminating the work through publications and presentations.

This post is available on a fixed-term basis for 12 months; the post is part-time 0.8 FTE.

For informal discussions contact Dr Luciana S. Esteves, lesteves@bournemouth.ac.uk, tel. +44 (0)1202 962446.

Apply here:

https://www1.bournemouth.ac.uk/post-doctoral-researcher-fixed-term-part-time

 

First Museum of Archaeology opens in Mozambique

The first ever Museum of Archaeology in Mozambique was opened at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo on the 19th December 2017. The museum is affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FLCS) and managed by the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology. It is the first to chart the prehistory and history of Mozambique from early humans up until the modern era. As well as archaeological exhibits there is lecture space and galleries for sculpture, painting and photography exhibits.

Read more about the inauguration of this important new museum here:

http://www.uem.mz/index.php/noticias-recentes/954-uem-inaugura-museu-de-arqueologia

http://africatimes.com/2017/12/22/mozambique-university-opens-new-archaeology-museum/

UNESCO and Italian underwater archaeologists meet in Kenya

Safeguarding underwater cultural heritage for sustainable development in Kenya

UNESCO joined forces with the Italian Cultural Institute in Kenya to participate in a two-day lecture series and film presentation entitled “Italian Archeologists: Between Desert and Sea”, which took place 10 and 11November 2017 at the Michael Joseph Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.

For more details of the meeting click here or below:

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/nairobi/about-this-office/single-view/news/safeguarding_underwater_cultural_heritage_for_sustainable_de/

For further information on Italian underwater archaeologists working with Kenyan archaeologists click here or below:

http://www.iicnairobi.esteri.it/iic_nairobi/it/

African Archaeology Research Day 2017

The 2017 African Archaeology Research Day (AARD) meeting, which will be hosted on Saturday 25 November at the Department of Archaeology, University of York.

The African Archaeology Research Day has been an annual event in the UK since 2002 and the first meeting held at the University of Oxford. The meetings are informal and are aimed at encouraging both undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as established academics, to present their research. They include plenty of time for informal discussion. Since 2002, the conference has been led by various academics in the field, at different venues across the country. Last year’s event at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, was extremely successful at showcasing the range of research being undertaken on Africa’s past.

Stephanie Wyne-Jones, a member of the organising committee, will present a paper on the Rising from the Depths project at the meeting.

More information on the meeting can be found on the project website here.

Coastal management

Sustainable ecosystem-based management of estuaries and coasts

If you are an early career researcher based in the UK or South Africa and interested in sustainable ecosystem-based management of estuaries and coasts, watch this space as in February we’ll be selecting 30 participants for a South Africa-UK Researcher Links Workshop taking place in Durban on 19-21 June 2018.

Workshop coordinators and mentors include: Lu Esteves (Bournemouth University); Trevor Hill (Univ Kwazulu-Natal); Bronwyn Goble (Oceanographic Research Institute); Louis Cellier (CSIR); Mike Elliot and Katie Smyth (University of Hull) and Andrew Cooper (University of Ulster).

Venue: Oceanographic Research Institute – uShaka Marine World, Durban, South Africa