The CCitRes Initiative: Using Citizen Science and Public Archaeology to Build Heritage Management Capacity in Curaçao

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Caribbean islands face significant heritage management capacity shortfalls that undermine local direction and control of archaeological research for community benefit. The Curaçao Citizen Researcher (CCitRes) Initiative uses citizen science and public archaeology to develop archaeological capacity on one such island, Curaçao, and empower communities to initiate sustained, place-based research for local needs. Jointly undertaken by the Curaçao Cultural Landscape Project and local community partner National Archaeological-Anthropological Memory Management (NAAM) to address resource and training needs in the latter’s management of island archaeological resources, in 2022 the CCitRes program conducted a three-day workshop and practicum to train community volunteers (citizen scientists) in archaeological methods. Our objective was to provide advanced training that will allow citizen scientists to contribute to archaeological collections research, especially conservation-relevant investigations on Curaçao’s past biodiversity and socio-ecological systems. Here we report the results of the CCitRes workshop, participant engagement in the CCLP and NAAM Foundation’s wider public outreach initiatives, supporting physical capacity developments, and an associated media campaign. We critically reflect on lessons learned and discuss the importance of such initiatives for increasing public awareness and access to archaeology, safeguarding heritage, and decolonizing Caribbean archaeology.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37485.0