how to share and protect port city culture and heritage?

Many projects and initiatives focusing on the cultural heritage of the port city exist around the world. From the organization of events to the development of archives, museums, social media, or Port Centers, all are valuable tools to improve the social integration of the port. AIVP presents a selection of inspiring examples on this subject. Discover them and be inspired! Few months ago, when the first lock-down was enforced in Europe, our colleagues from the Port City Futures research group quickly gathered in two blog posts music, books, documentaries and films to enjoy the port city culture from the couch. This simple and surely enjoyable exercise rapidly showed the different sorts of cultural manifestations that port cities can provide to the lives of citizens, even to those that may not live in port cities. This immaterial richness contributes to a concrete port city imaginary that inhabits the minds of inhabitants and visitors of port cities around the globe. Port City culture is indeed one the main resources that the local actors operating in the port-city relationship have to build a more sustainable interaction, contributing to the social integration of ports. Physical maritime heritage and its most diverse representations in paintings, photographs and drawings also play a key role in the formation of a local port-city identity. Port cities are canvases in which historical periods have left their mark. In them we read the evolution of our society and culture. In most cases, the port was their reason of being and its engine of growth and change. The progression of maritime technologies has changed the waterfront and the activities that took place in it. In this constant quest for innovation, new trades, new jobs and new social behaviours were constantly overlapped, creating the palimpsest that forms port cities today. This palimpsest has been the foundation on which locals and visitors can perceive a specific identity, based on systems of symbols and representations (artistic and not). Today, in difficult times, we still call for this identity to maintain a connection between cities, ports and people. The main actors in the port-city relationship in the 21st century need to balance many values, environmental, economic, but also cultural ones. It is not an easy challenge, since there are many interests at stake. For that reason, AIVP decided to include port culture and identity as one of the 10 goals of the AIVP Agenda 2030, emphasizing its importance for the relationship. Port city citizens need to develop a certain sense of belonging and pride on their port. We have identified several concrete ways in which this could be achieved. Exchanges of Best practices in disclosing Port City culture, learning from AIVP members and global experts During the weeks between October and November of…