The ESU funds digital advocacy by the Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network

The ESU congratulates the Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network (MMHN), runner-up in the inaugural (2021) round of the ESU's Major Project Grant.

The grant of $3,500 will support improvements to the MMHN's digital advocacy via its website and its management of online events.

The MMHN is a relative newcomer to Victoria’s heritage sector but it has quickly demonstrated its value to people involved with Melbourne’s maritime activity, including state and local government decision-makers. The MMHN wants to see Melbourne acknowledged as a port city with a rich maritime heritage that is celebrated, preserved and sustained.

The MMHN notes that blue-water maritime engagement has underpinned Australia’s national development and prosperity, and thus contributes to our heritage and culture. Melbourne remains the nation’s largest port. The Australian identity is built on more than two centuries of maritime discovery, daring, expertise, innovation and competence.

The MMHN has, however, encountered widespread amnesia in relation to maritime heritage, culture and identity across the public realm as well as within the plethora of responsible authorities and all three levels of government. The MMHN has also noted that many maritime groups, although valiantly struggling to preserve and share the stories of our maritime heritage, have rarely engaged in collective endeavour. The MMHN therefore aims to act as a conduit, facilitating connections between a diverse and geographically-dispersed group of maritime sector stakeholders.

The MMHN website is a critical element of this work, central to fostering fellowship amongst existing stakeholders and reaching out to the wider public. With improvements supported by the ESU’s grant, the MMHN’s digital advocacy will inform, educate and foster due recognition of our rich maritime heritage.

To download a PDF of the ESU's Media Release about this grant, click HERE.

To visit the MMHN's current website, click HERE.

Logo and image supplied by MMHN.
Photographer: Jeff Malley, a Director of the MMHN.

To learn about other recent winners of ESU awards, click HERE.

Page posted on 30 May 2021.