The Clyde Docks Preservation Initiative was borne out of a campaign for the restoration of Govan's derelict graving docks as a maritime heritage park.
The background research and networking associated with the campaign has opened doors and identified opportunities to look at the wider context of maritime heritage. For a region having such a rich maritime heritage as the Clyde, there is relatively little trace of this remaining compared with other maritime regions, even those where most of the industry has also been lost. Little has been done to preserve the legacy of the Clyde and ensure it can adapt and remain relevant as a maritime region in the context of the modern world. Addressing this is at the very core of CDPI's activity.
We have have launched a consultation and research process looking at the potential to develop a passenger and light-freight water transport corridor on the River and Firth of Clyde - potentially linking the West Coast into the heart of Glasgow with fast catamarans and hydrofoils.
The aim is to look at how markets for these services can be created and how transportation can be moved off roads and onto the water. What kind of infrastructure is needed? What kind of vessels are suitable? How could communities benefit? Could it boost tourism? These are just some of the questions CDPI aims to answer, with broad input from stakeholders, communities and experts.
Use of wind power to propel ships for cargo transportation is making a comeback with vessels of all shapes and sizes in active use and research into more advanced designs being carried out by a number of expert groups.
This is only one part of a worldwide drive towards sustainable shipping, with hydrogen fuel having the potential to radically cut carbon dioxide emissions from transport of passengers and goods by sea.
Our interest in sustainable shipping is very broad in terms of its relationship to maritime heritage. We are also considering what role the Clyde could potentially play in servicing a more sustainable shipping industry and are engaging with a number of experts in this area.
Our research and networking activity has identified a lack of joined up thinking throughout the Clyde region and between its local authority areas in terms of how waterfront space, heritage, regeneration and maritime activity is managed.
While there is a semblance of statutory protection for the historic environment there is no coherent vision for how the wider tangible, intangible, historic and living heritage can be developed and leveraged for social and economic benefit. Nor is there any strategy for the continuing development and nurturing of heritage that we create now and pass on to future generations.
Through our work we aim to encourage key stakeholders to collectively address this issue.
