On Wednesday, 22 May, Ecologic Institute – together with Fresh Thoughts Consulting and Milieu – will hold a workshop on the subject of "Supporting adaptation efforts in coastal and maritime areas through guidance and good practice examples".
RADOST goes on tour! Under the title “Baltic Sea Coast 2100 – On
The "Regional Adaptation Strategies for the German Baltic Sea Coast" (RADOST) project, led by Ecologic Institute, was recently awarded a spot among the "365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas," along with six other German regions that are instituting climate adaptation measures. The model regions of the research program "KLIMZUG – Managing Climate Change in the Regions for the Future" are among the "Selected Landmarks 2012" that are being recognized by the "Germany – Land of Ideas" initiative of the Federal Government and German business community. The jury has thus acknowledged the innovative approach of RADOST and the other KLIMZUG projects that attempts to involve regional stakeholders in all steps of research design and implementation, starting at the very beginning of the process.
It is currently estimated that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices are worth around 10 billion Euros each year – a shocking 19% of the value of catches worldwide. The EU and the US are both concerned about the disastrous environmental and socio-economic impacts of this illegal fishing activity and have each introduced their own legal measures. However, IUU fishing is a trans-boundary issue. The regular and coordinated exchange of information and practical tools is therefore essential for tackling IUU activity in the north Atlantic and beyond.
On 6 July 2011, numerous guests from Greifswald and the surrounding area had the opportunity to see the research ship "Ludwig Prandtl" in the harbor of Greifswald/Wiek up close and to ask researchers questions about their work on the ship and about the RADOST project.
At the one-day conference in Hamburg on 31 May 2011, everything concerning regional climate change in the Baltic Sea area and sustainable development through adaptation was the central point of discussion. The conference "Adaptation to Climate Change on the Regional Level" was organised by the international BALTEX secretariat and the city of Hamburg, which also chairs the association of regional decision-makers in the Baltic Sea region "Baltic Sea States Subregional cooperation" (BSSSC).
The Swedish embassy in Berlin hosted a Dinner on June 15, 2011 for the Participants of the international workshop "Regional availability of climate knowledge in the Baltic Sea" at the Nordic Embassies. In his opening address, the deputy head of the Swedish Embassy – Torbjörn Haak – confirmed the interest of his country in the topic and pointed out the work of the Baltic Sea Council, where Germany will succeed Norway in the presidency in July this year.
Scientists and practitioners have rarely had the opportunity to exchange their ideas on climate adaptation in such an up-to-date and direct way as at the second RADOST annual conference on 18 and 19 May in Travemünde. What are the expected impacts of climate change at the regional and local level at the German Baltic Sea coast? How can local stakeholders adapt to these? What kind of scientific information do they need as a basis for implementing such measures? These questions were discussed by 75 scientists in the fields of climate and natural science research, political science and sociology, together with representatives from politics, administration, economy and civil society in several science-practice dialogues. This offered stakeholders willing to promote climate adaptation in their region another opportunity to get involved in the design of this development process.
How can the EU and the US work together to improve management of coastal and ocean affairs, not only within their own territories, but across the North Atlantic? What are the obstacles to establishing integrated and science-based frameworks formaritime governance in the EU and US, and how can they be overcome? How can management be improved through the involvement of key players from science, industry, civil society and government? These questions and more were debated at the Cooperation Across the Atlantic for Marine Governance Integration (CALAMAR) final conference that took place in Lisbon (Portugal).
Results from Arctic TRANSFORM have been included in a compendium compiled by the Arctic Governance Project. Climate change has triggered a surge of research activity in the Arctic that attempts to address newly emerging concerns over governance, environmental impacts, traditional livelihoods, and expanding economic activity. The Arctic Governance Project aims to capture and assemble the best of these research efforts in order to lay the foundation for the way forward and communicate conclusions to policymakers.
