Navigating Indigenous Connections to Underwater Heritage in the Contemporary Era

Dear Colleagues,

Humans have long had strong ties to coastal and lakeside environments, which offer insights into historical inundation and change. Understanding Indigenous connections with these landscapes involves learning how Indigenous communities perceive, interact with, and find meaning in them. This Special Issue aims to explore Indigenous connections with inundated cultural landscapes, from the cultural context and methodological approaches right through to contemporary issues and policy development. We seek contributions that address Indigenous connections with underwater environments, case studies of inundated cultural landscapes, associated stories, myths, and legends, as well as traditional practices related to underwater resources and ecosystems.

Methodologically, we are interested in research that is co-designed and co-led with Indigenous communities, as well as participatory research approaches involving them. Of particular interest are projects that draw on the physical sciences to investigate, document, and understand inundated landscapes. Ethical considerations associated with research in inundated landscapes are also of importance.

Contemporary issues include challenges faced by Indigenous communities in maintaining connections with inundated cultural landscapes, the role of Indigenous communities in managing and preserving these landscapes, and the contributions of Indigenous perspectives to understanding them. Additionally, we welcome policy recommendations for the conservation and management of these landscapes, as well as the exploration of the potential for promoting cultural tourism and sustainable development.

Dr. Ingrid Ward
Dr. Isabel Cartajena
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• underwater
• submerged
• marine
• freshwater
• cultural landscapes
• Indigenous perspectives
• Western Science
• prehistoric
• archaeology
• policy development