ICES/COEXIST Interactive Stakeholder Workshop

Do you work in the field of aquaculture, fisheries, energy or tourism in the European coastal areas or are you a coastal zone manager? Then this workshop is of high relevance to you!

The workshop: “Best Practice Guidelines for spatial planning to integrate fisheries, aquaculture and other uses in the coastal zone” will be held in Bergen (Norway) on the 19th September 2012. It is jointly organised by the EU-funded COEXIST project and ICES [WKSPFIA] in the week of the ICES Annual Science Conference.

Based on three years of research, the COEXIST project evaluated competing activities and interactions in European coastal areas. The partnership considered geographically diverse case studies, representing the conditions and combinations of activities in various European coastal areas. Benefits and drawbacks of concomitant development of aquaculture, coastal fisheries and other activities such as wind farms, tourism and natural conservation areas have been identified in each case study.

The aim of this workshop is to define the potential contents of coastal management guidelines. Your useful insights as stakeholder will be much appreciated and considered for uptake in the final project recommendations which will lead to best practice guidelines. The workshop will discuss the detection of spatial-use conflicts, methods for monitoring and evaluating spatial management and solutions for situations where different activities are competing. Recommendations on useful tools will also be presented and discussed based on the project results. Ultimately, the outcome of the workshop will be to summarise the project findings into best practice guidelines. These guidelines will provide a roadmap to better integration, sustainability and synergies across the diverse activities taking place in the European coastal zone.

If you would like to take part in this workshop, please complete the online registration form using the following link.

Places are limited, so please register early to secure your participation. Deadline for registration is the 10th September 2012. A message to confirm your attendance will be sent to the e-mail address provided in the online registration form. Please do not make meeting arrangements before you receive attendance confirmation.

For more information, please check the project website or contact Emma Bello Gomez at emma@aquatt.ie.

Issued by AquaTT Limited & Institute of Marine Research (IMR), the COEXIST project management team. For further information contact Emma Bello Gomez, on +353 16449008 or emma@aquatt.ie.