KnowSeas
Knowledge-based Sustainable Management for Europe's Seas
Abstract
Europe’s regional seas have suffered severe environmental degradation. This damage not only affects the organisms living in the marine environment but also has impacts on the welfare of the human communities which are reliant on them. The Ecosystem Approach to management, now a part of European Policy (Marine Strategy Blue Book) and mandated by the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, offers a means of sustainably managing our seas to optimize both ecological and social well being. The one major obstacle is that nobody is quite sure how the Ecosystem Approach can be put into practice, and this is where the Knowledge-based Sustainable Management for Europe’s Seas (KnowSeas) project comes in.
Project information
Europe’s four regional seas (Baltic, Black, Mediterranean and NE Atlantic) have suffered severe environmental degradation due to human pressure. Existing measures to manage pressures have proven inadequate and the EC has responded by proposing a new policy (Maritime Strategy Blue Book) and environmental legislation (Marine Strategy Framework Directive), both currently close to adoption. These instruments rely on the Ecosystem Approach, a management paradigm that encompasses humans and the supporting ecosystem. But the science base for this approach needs strengthening and practical tools must be developed and tested for policy implementation. In particular, criteria for assessing costs and benefits of management actions are poorly developed, particularly in the complex marine environment where multiple uses and management conflicts are common.
The KnowSeas consortium will strengthen the science base for managing Europe’s seas through the practical application of systems thinking. It will work at the two scales envisaged for emergent EU policy: the Regional Sea Scale and Member State Economic Exclusive Zones (EEZs). We have developed a new approach of Decision Space Analysis to investigate mismatches of scale. Knowledge created through the EU Framework Programme 6 project European Lifestyles and Marine Ecosystems, augmented with necessary new studies of climate effects, fisheries and maritime industries - in EEZ case studies - will provide a basis for assessing changes to natural systems and their human causes. New research will examine and model economic and social impacts of changes to ecosystem goods and services and costs and benefits of various management options available through existing and proposed policy instruments. Institutional and social analysis will determine conflicts of interest and examine governance as well as stakeholder values and perceptions. Our research will develop and test an assessment toolbox through Regional Liaison Groups and a multisectoral Project Advisory Board.
This project is accredited to the Living With Environmental Change (LWEC) programme and affiliated to LOICZ.
Project details
- Duration: 2009-2013
- Contact: knowseas-coordination@sams.ac.uk
- Scientific coordinator: Professor Laurence Mee
- Operational coordinator: Dr Tim O'Higgins
- Project administrator: Marieke Steuben
- Scientific staff from SAMS: Dr Tavis Potts; Dr Sheila Heymans; Dr Tim O'Higgins
- Partners: Alfred Wegener
Institute for Polar and Marine Research, DE; Baltic Nest Institute,
Stockholm University, SE; Centre for Environment, Fisheries and
Aquaculture Science, GB; Institute for Atmospheric Pollution of the
Italian Research Council, IT; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones
Científicas, Barcelona, ES; Deltares, NL; ENVISION Management Ltd, GB;
EUCC - Coastal & Marine Union, NL; Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht Zentrum für Material- und Küstenforschung GmbH, DE; Institute for European Environmental Policy, GB/BE; Instituto
do Mar, PT; Institute of Oceanology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, BG;
Netherlands Institute of Ecology, NL; Environmental Systems Analysis
Lab, University of Padua, IT; Megapesca Lda, PT; Middle East Technical
University, TR; Norwegian Institute for Air Research, NO; Sir Alister
Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, GB; University of Plymouth - Marine
Institute, GB; Southern Denmark University, DK; Sea Fisheries Institute,
PL; Finnish Environmental Institute, FI; University of Bretagne
Occidentale, FR; University College Cork, IE; University of East Anglia,
GB; University of Bergen, NO; Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia, IT;
University of Bath, GB; VU University Amsterdam, Institute for
Environmental Studies, NL; Universidad de Sevilla, ES; Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, BG
Project funding
Total cost: 7,413,699 Euros
EC Contribution: 5,764,200 Euros
Publicity
Please download our two-sided KnowSeas Factsheet.
A successful project launch event was held at the Scottish Marine Institute on 12th and 13th May 2009, attended by Professor Maggie Gill, Chief Scientific Advisor on Rural Affairs and Environment in the Scottish Government. Click here for more information.
For more information please visit the KNOWSEAS website
