Suchergebnisse

The aim of this study is to assess the potential effectiveness of GMES Space Component Sentinel Missions for land-based environmental policy support in the Azores Autonomous Region (Portugal). Sixteen different types of legal and spatial instruments are currently being applied in this region. Most of them require detailed and accurate Land-use/Land- cover cartography in order to deliver reliable outputs at municipal, island and archipelagic scales. Sentinel-2 Mission products can fulfill these requirements in a cost-effective way. A Spatial Data Infrastructure-based Regional GMES framework is proposed in order to process, assess, validate and integrate this GMES data into the decision support system of Azorean regional land policies. ; This research has been developed on the behalf of a Doctoral (M3.1.2/F/025/2007) and a Post-Doctoral (M3.1.7/F/005/2011) Research Project, both supported by the Azorean Regional Secretary of Science, Technology and Equipment (Azorean Regional Government). This work was partially funded by Portuguese National Funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Foundation for Science and Technology), under the project "PTDC/AAC-AMB/098786/2008". ; Peer Reviewed

We assessed the effectiveness of very high spatial resolution IKONOS imagery for mapping a top invasive woody plant, Pittosporum undulatum, in a Protected Area in S.Miguel Island. We developed a segmentation-based classification scheme. A strong separability between most important land cover classes and a high accuracy in supervised classification maps was achieved. Overall separability improved significantly after the training data depuration process. Support Vector Machine and Maximum Likelihood's supervised classifiers showed a strong agreement and a good accuracy at land-cover class level, especially with P. undulatum. This approach was confirmed as a cost-effective method to map woody plant invaders in Azores Protected Areas. ; This research has been developed on the behalf of a Doctoral (M3.1.2/F/025/2007) and a Post-Doctoral (M3.1.7/F/005/2011) Research Project, both supported by the Regional Fund for Science (FRC) of the Azorean Regional Government. ; Peer Reviewed

Combining maritime uses, either through joint operations or joint installations, can reduce spatial pressures on European Seas and create new opportunities for socio-economic development, along with potential environmental benefits. 'Multi-use' implies a radical change from the concept of exclusive resource rights to an inclusive sharing of resources by one or more users. Thus multi-use often does not come naturally, but shall be motivated by clear drivers and added-values. This also implies that 'multi-use' solutions are not exclusively better than 'single-use' options. It is important to carefully consider local conditions when making a decision on whether to favour single – or multi-use in a given location. Further development of multi-use requires actions mainly from the users themselves, but also backed by research and legislation at all levels. Based on two years of systematic research, combined with extensive stakeholder involvement, within the framework of the Horizon 2020 funded MUSES project, the Action Plan details what actions are required and by whom in the coming years to turn the concept of Multi-Use in European sea basins into real life implementation.

This paper examines the concept of maritime multi-use as a territorial/SPATIAL governance instrument for the enhancement of sustainable development in five EU sea basins. Multi-use (MU) is expected to enhance the productivity of blue economy sectors, as well as deliver additional socio-economic benefits related to the environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development. The paper provides a definition of maritime multi-use and identifies the multi-uses with the highest potential in EU sea basins. In each sea basin, multi-use plays a different role as concerns sustainable development. For the Eastern Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, the MU focus should remain on the environmental pillar of sustainable development. In the North Sea, North Atlantic and Western Baltic Sea, addressing social sustainability seems a key precondition for success of MU in enhancement of sustainable spatial development at sea. Moreover, it has been suggested to introduce MU key global strategies such as SDGs or Macroregional strategies and action plans and to supplement maritime spatial planning with sectoral incentives and educational efforts as key vehicles supporting MU. The paper concludes by identifying aspects which, in order to inform maritime spatial planning and maritime governance regarding a more conscious application of the aforementioned concept, require further investigation. Key tasks are related to: more profound evaluation of performance of policies supporting MUs, researching the impact of MU on societal goals and on the MU costs and benefits, including external ones, and finally identifying the impact of MU on the development of various sectors and regions on land.

This paper examines the concept of maritime multi-use as a territorial/SPATIAL governance instrument for the enhancement of sustainable development in five EU sea basins. Multi-use (MU) is expected to enhance the productivity of blue economy sectors, as well as deliver additional socio-economic benefits related to the environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development. The paper provides a definition of maritime multi-use and identifies the multi-uses with the highest potential in EU sea basins. In each sea basin, multi-use plays a different role as concerns sustainable development. For the Eastern Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, the MU focus should remain on the environmental pillar of sustainable development. In the North Sea, North Atlantic and Western Baltic Sea, addressing social sustainability seems a key precondition for success of MU in enhancement of sustainable spatial development at sea. Moreover, it has been suggested to introduce MU key global strategies such as SDGs or Macroregional strategies and action plans and to supplement maritime spatial planning with sectoral incentives and educational efforts as key vehicles supporting MU. The paper concludes by identifying aspects which, in order to inform maritime spatial planning and maritime governance regarding a more conscious application of the aforementioned concept, require further investigation. Key tasks are related to: more profound evaluation of performance of policies supporting MUs, researching the impact of MU on societal goals and on the MU costs and benefits, including external ones, and finally identifying the impact of MU on the development of various sectors and regions on land.