Suchergebnisse

The IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange held its Eighteenth Session (IODE-XVIII) at the Kursaal, Ostend, Belgium between 26 and 30 April 2005. The Session was attended by 59 delegates from 31 Member States, 15 representatives of organizations, programmes and projects, and 5 observers. The Session was preceded by the official inauguration on 25 April 2005, of the IOC Project for IODE, based in Ostend, Belgium which was attended by Mr. Jean Vandecasteele, Mayor of the City of Ostend, Mrs Fientje Moerman (Vice-Minister-President of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Economy, Enterprise, Science, Innovation and Foreign Trade), Dr Patricio Bernal (on behalf of Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO), Mr. Johan Vande Lanotte, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for the Budget and Public Enterprise and Minister of the North Sea, Mr. Paul Breyne, Governor of West-Flanders and President of the Board of Directors of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Dr Lesley Rickards, Chair of the IOC Committee on International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE), and Mr. Yves Leterme, Minister-president of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Institutional Reform, Agriculture, Sea Fisheries and Rural Policy. The IODE Committee, during its 5 day Session, reviewed the work of the past inter-sessional period. Considerable attention was given to the IODE Review that had taken place during the inter-sessional period. The Committee reviewed all recommendations by the Review Team and made several fundamental and structural change decisions in response to the Review. These included the re-composition of the IODE Officers, the abolishment of the RNODC and IODE Regional Co-ordinator systems, and further review of the IODE Groups of Experts during the next inter-sessional period. The Committee established an inter-sessional working group on ocean data quality control, thereby re-emphasizing the important role of IODE in this area. The Committee further welcomed the increased collaboration with other organizations, programmes and projects such as JCOMM, GOOS, ICES, SCAR, CDIAC, GCMD, CEP, OBIS, IAMSLIC, EURASLIC and others. The Committee noted the success of the ODINAFRICA and ODINCARSA projects, established the ODINCINDIO project and recommended the establishment of an ODIN for the WESTPAC region. The Committee further endorsed an outline and timeline for the development of the IOC Data Management Strategy. The Committee prepared 4 Resolutions and 8 Recommendations. ; peer-reviewed

The Unit undertakes fundamental research in coastal meteorology, hydrography and physical oceanography with a main emphasis on the experimental study of the hydrodynamics of the sea in the vicinity of the Maltese Islands. It offers facilities for the gathering, processing, analysis and management of high quality physical oceanographic observations both for long term and baseline studies as well as for general applications in marine environmental research and assessments. The Unit endeavours to enhance its activity on an operational scale by the installation and maintenance of permanent monitoring systems which provide data for ocean forecasting, and by applying numerical modelling techniques in the study of physical marine systems. It operates in collaboration with international organisations with whom it has expanded its activities through a number of funded research projects. The Unit provides services and technical support to local entities including government departments and private agencies. It organises conferences, seminars, workshops and specialised training programs in order to promote oceanography in Malta and in the Mediterranean. ; peer-reviewed

Leading research Institutes and SMEs from EU Member States, Associated States, Associated Candidate countries, non-EU Mediterranean and Black Sea countries joined forces in a coordinated manner within the PERSEUS Project, in order to address common environmental pressures and, ultimately, take action in the challenge of achieving the Good Environmental State. One of these coordinated actions was the summer school on "The contribution of environmental indices in meeting the objectives and principles of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive", organized in Constanta, Romania, during 3-7 June 2013, within the framework of Work Package 8 (WP8). The main objectives of the PERSEUS Summer School on the contribution of environmental indices in meeting the objectives and principles of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive were to expose participants to aspects of the theoretical and practical background on the assessment of the benthic ecological status using the index M-AMBI (multivariate AMBI - AZTI's Marine Biotic Index) and MSFD assessment issues; to provide participants with the most important concepts related to the fishery related indices; to get participants acquainted with the main applications of ocean color based index/eutrophication- related core set indicators CSI023 (chlorophyll-a); to present theoretical and practical aspects of characterization of the ecological state of marine and coastal waters using Trophic index (TRIX); to establish links between different researchers involved in the field of environmental indicators related with MSFD. As a result of the conduction of this summer school, 20 Mediterranean and Black Sea young researchers were trained in the basics of MSFD environmental indices, which they can apply in their respective institutes for the better management of marine resources, thus contributing to build experience in the formulation of scientifically based synthetic assessment of the state of the marine environment, aligned with the objectives of the PERSEUS project. ; peer-reviewed

The Physical Oceanography Unit was established in the early 90's under the Malta Council for Science and Technology. It now constitutes the research arm of the IOI-Malta Operational Centre at the University of Malta. The PO-Unit undertakes fundamental research in coastal meteorology, hydrography and physical oceanography with a main emphasis on the experimental study of the hydrodynamics of the sea in the vicinity of the Maltese Islands. It offers facilities for the gathering, processing, analysis and management of high quality physical oceanographic observations both for long term and baseline studies as well as for general applications in marine environmental research and assessments. The Unit endeavours to enhance its activity on an operational scale by the installation and maintenance of permanent monitoring systems which provide data for ocean forecasting, and by applying numerical modelling techniques in the study of physical marine systems. It operates in collaboration with international organisations with which it has expanded its activities through a number of funded research projects. The Unit provides services and technical support to local entities including government departments and private agencies. It organises conferences, seminars, workshops and specialised training programs in order to promote oceanography in Malta and in the Mediterranean. ; N/A

This report describes the main objectives, implementation details and outputs of PERSEUS summer schools held in Constanza, Gelendzik and Anavyssos. The specific objective of this deliverable is to give an overview of the three training courses held within the course of the PERSEUS project, providing details of the thematic content of the same training courses and of the skills imparted to participants as a result of such training. In this way, this deliverable might prove useful to those entrusted to design and offer future marine environmental policy training in the SES as a showcase of good training practice. By underscoring the most significant outputs emerging from such training courses, this deliverable also aims to demonstrate how PERSEUS has contributed in a tangible manner towards a new scientific vision for the SES. This deliverable achieved this jointly with the two sister deliverables 8.3 and 8.4, contributing to the fostering of a PERSEUS community of trained MSFD practitioners who can extend the legacy of such a project beyond its lifetime by assisting their respective countries and institutes in achieving MSFD goal compliance through the PERSEUS training they have received. ; peer-reviewed

The governance of our common Mediterranean Sea in the present circular scenario requires an adaptable co-owned plan of actions, interconnecting science and innovation to policy, citizens and the environment, and addressing multiple dimension, from local to international. The BlueMed Implementation Plan provides a medium-term operational tool to develop sustainable Blue Economy in the Mediterranean area. By conveying practical inputs, it accompanies the following trajectories: • Definition of the Smart Specialization Strategies1 by Regions; • Alignment of national marine and maritime strategies; • European R&I Programming, with particular reference to the European Commission Horizon Europe Mission Areas2 "Adaptation to Climate Change including Societal Transformation & Climate-neutral and smart cities" and "Healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters" as well as the candidate Partnerships on "A climate neutral, sustainable and productive Blue Economy" and on "Zero-emission waterborne transport"; • Development of the Union for the Mediterranean3 strategic policies, i.e. Ministerial on Blue Economy; • Cross-basins exchange of visions and planning approaches; • Contribution, at Mediterranean scale, to the design of the actions of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science4 for global Sustainable Development. ; peer-reviewed

In the last decade, several initiatives have been taken at a European level to adopt the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) by promoting coordination and stimulating integrated actions leading to consistent views on its final goal: the achievement of good environmental status (GES). In its holistic approach, the MSFD fully acknowledges the complexity and variability of marine ecosystems and demands constant scientific support for its actual implementation. Recently, the Joint Programming Initiative on "Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans" (JPI Oceans) launched the joint action "Science for Good Environmental Status" (Science4GES), building on the contribution of different scientific disciplines and communities to better fulfill the scope of the MSFD. In this paper we illustrate and discuss a few crucial aspects of endeavors to implement the MSFD specifically implied in the definition of the metrics for the 11 descriptors and GES in its complexity, as well as improving the strategy governing its implementation. This presentation also describes the challenges, aims and implementation plan for the JPI-O joint action, where a transdisciplinary approach may help in progressing from the comprehensive and far-reaching vision of the MSFD to the achievement of a durable GES ; peer-reviewed

Local and global anthropogenic pressures due to climate change and to local uses and activities are exerting significant cumulative impacts to greater extents of the oceans and seas. Coastal ecosystems are particularly threatened by the intensity and coexistence of several marine uses and pressures, including sewage and urban constructions, tourism, ship traffic, fisheries and aquaculture. Assessment of pressures and the identification of mitigation measures are key urgent actions, as already highlighted by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14. The aim of this work, developed within the Interreg-Med project SHAREMED, is to systematize existing knowledge on threats and pollution, including those of transboundary origin, for long term strategies and common action marine spatial planning, jointly developed with stakeholders. The quest is to assess coexisting environmental threats, and their propagation in space and time, at proper spatial and temporal scales, according to the type and action of each stressor (i.e. global vs. local). Cumulative pressures are tackled within a dedicated Atlas comprising three sub-basinsins of the Mediterranean Sea: the North Adriatic Sea, the Sicilian Channel and the North-Western region. The Atlas integrates information generated at the best available resolutions by 1) in-situ sampling, 2) remote observations, 3) numerical models, and 4) focusing on target ecosystems and habitat forming species. These sub-basins are subjected to multiple local and larger scale (e.g. climate) pressures that propagate in space and time, and across political boundaries, that need to be addressed through coordinated actions, based on evidence-rooted common understanding. ; peer-reviewed