Center for Coastal & Marine Studies
CCMS PARTICIPATES IN THE NEW EU HORIZON EUROPE PROJECT MSP4BIO TO START IN AUGUST 2022
We are excited to announce that CCMS will participate in the newly started EU project MSP4BIO under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme HORIZON-CL6-2021-BIODIV-01-12. MSP4BIO is the short name for “Improved Science-Based Maritime Spatial Planning to Safeguard and Restore Biodiversity in A Coherent European MPA Network”. The project is led by s.Pro - sustainable projects (SPRO) /SUBMARINER Network, Berlin, Germany.
The MSP4BIO will run for 3 years (August 2022 - August 2025). It has a budget of 3.5 million euros.
MSP4BIO develops and demonstrates the ways in which knowledge-based MSP can become a vehicle and a tool for the protection and recovery of marine ecosystems. The project takes the collaborative approach to address coherent implementation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy (EUBS) 2030, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) post-2020 framework, and EU Green Deal.
Specifically, MSP4BIO will develop an integrated flexible socio-ecological management to cope with a rapidly changing environment for coastal, offshore, and deep-sea ecosystems and validate its concrete applicability in 6 test sites in 5 European Sea Basins. The management relies on improved systemic biodiversity prioritization criteria for MPAs and EBSAs, based on the best available scientific knowledge on biodiversity attributes, and linking spatial ecological features (including migratory ones) with socio-economic considerations.
MAY 23-27, 2022. VIENNA, AUSTRIA. EUROPEAN GEOSCIENCES UNION (EGU2022)
The Geomorphology Session GM6.7 on: “Coastal Zone Geomorphological Interactions: Natural versus Human-Induced Driving Factors” was successfully conducted for the fourteenth time at the EGU 2022 General Assembly, 23-27 May 2022 in Vienna, Austria. This year’s conference format was fully hybrid, with presenters both in person at the Austria Centre Vienna and remote via the Zoom Meetings system. With the invaluable help of the in-room technical assistant the session ran very smoothly.
Contributions to this session were focused on a wide range of topics, including environmental recovery from heavy metal contamination in estuaries, controlled flood basins, coastal erosion case-studies in Sicily as well as on Greenland, modelling of coral reef development as well as beach bedforms around buildings, and marina planning in the context of shifting sediment. The session topics also included methodological studies considering remote sensing techniques for beach surveys and automated toolkits for monitoring coastal change.
The session included 11 presentations by authors from a wide range of countries around Europe, attended by a good-sized audience occupying the room to near-capacity and with several dozen online participants.
The session was conducted on Tuesday, 24th of May, chaired by Dr. Andreas Baas (UK). A detailed list of presentations can be viewed online at www.egu22.eu.
World Oceans Day 2022: Revitalization - Collective Action for the Ocean
The ocean covers over 70% of the planet. It is our life source, supporting humanity’s sustenance and that of every other organism on earth. The ocean produces at least 50% of the planet’s oxygen, it is home to most of earth’s biodiversity, and is the main source of protein for more than a billion people around the world. Not to mention, the ocean is key to our economy with an estimated 40 million people being employed by ocean-based industries by 2030.
Yet its health is at a tipping point and so is the well-being of all that depends on it. “It is time to realize that, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change, we urgently need collective action to revitalize the ocean. That means finding a new balance in our relationship with the marine environment” - UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
This year’s United Nations World Oceans Day, on 8 June 2022, will highlight the theme Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean. The purpose of the United Nations World Oceans Day is to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world's oceans.
This is the first hybrid celebration of the annual event, hosted in-person at the UN Headquarters in New York and broadcast live. The Global Event for the United Nations World Oceans Day 2022 will bring together the communities, ideas, and solutions that are working to protect and revitalize the ocean and everything it sustains.
Be part of the global celebration by joining the key events:
• UN Global WOD Celebration
• WOD Webinar Ocean literacy
• Sailing for the World Oceans Day 2022
Originally published by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO
A new Blue Economy Observatory has been launched by the European Commission to bring together knowledge from different sources
The European Commission launches on 19 of May 2022 the EU Blue Economy Observatory, a new knowledge dissemination platform for the sustainability of our oceans, seas and coastal areas.
The new observatory will focus on socio-economic components of the maritime related sectors. It will provide a detailed picture of ocean-related activities, with latest data, scientific evidence, insights, market information and findings supporting ongoing trends and developments in the EU Blue Economy.
The EU Blue Economy Observatory intends to solve the current lack of sufficient available data about industries and sectors related to our oceans, seas and coasts.
Filling this knowledge gap with the latest and most complete scientific information will help policymakers and businesses make decisions in order to build a sustainable, resilient and climate-neutral blue economy in the EU. Moreover, the platform provides information relevant to the development, implementation and monitoring of policies, particularly in light of the European Green Deal.
