| Issue # 20 - June 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 European Coastal PlatformA new European Coastal Platform will carry on the most popular networking activities of ENCORA - see the February ENCORA Enews. The Platform is a coordination pole of coastal networks, including also networks not yet cooperating within ENCORA. The designation ‘coastal’ should be taken in a broad sense – it comprises the terrestrial and marine parts of the coastal zone (i.e. the European regional seas) and it covers all the different aspects of ICZM. The Platform is a bottom-up initiative of its members which stimulates and facilitates free circulation of knowledge and experience within the communities of coastal and marine professionals at large. Another objective is creating for these communities a communication channel to European institutions. When EUCC suggested to the Steering Committee in Copenhagen the creation of a broader Platform, the idea was welcomed by all the members. It took afterwards some time to agree on what exactly the Platform should be in terms of activities, membership, status, mode of operation. Major principles of the Platform are: - members are network organisations representing a broad community of coastal and marine professionals; - each member contributes to organising networking activities on behalf of all the other members; - no duplication of networking activities; - no political agenda or commercial interests. Networking activities include: establishing a unique European Contact Database, a discussion platform for tuning research agendas, interactive internet facilities for information exchange within specific professional communities (cf. the French example), Coastal Wiki, Distance learning, … The European Coastal Platform will be inaugurated at the Littoral Conference on 28 November 2008. What do the 2500 coastal and marine professionals presently registered in the Contact Database expect from the European Coastal Platform? Give your opinion on the forum.  National news in this issue
 International news is in this issue
  BeNCoRe goes GISLast month BeNCoRe welcomed over 100 participants from 11 different countries during its second conference. The conference presented the possibilities of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Coastal and Marine Coastal and Marine Research and Management. Thanks to the Young Professional Exchange Program (YPEP) of ENCORA, many foreigners and young professionals participated among the interested public. The conference showed the multifunctionality of GIS applications ranging from remote sensing, optical teledetection, 3D to 4D presentation methods, information source for the Water Framework Directive and the use of Coastal and Marine Atlases. When historically seen coastal management has been transformed into ICZM, simple cartography techniques have simultaneously been followed up by digital mapping and its integration into dynamic knowledge systems. As such, GIS is found to contribute to different activities within ICZM: think of studying coastal sediment dynamics, MESH project, but also of Coastal Atlases like the Belgian kustatlas and the African Marine Atlas as well as references to the Blue Book on an Integrated Maritime Policy. The BeNCoRe conference showed with success that with its dynamic characteristics, the use of GIS fits perfectly the global context of ICZM.  Porto presents PoCoast seminarSander van Rooij of the ENCORA office, contributed to the PoCoast seminar and left a note about his arrival and experiences: "I watch the waves plunge in on the rocky coastline of Porto. Rain pours down on big yellow bulldozers standing at the slightly damaged boulevard, looking at big piles of nourishment-sand on the narrow beach as silent witnesses of the oceans explosive temper. Ten minutes later the sun breaks through and tourists pop up from stores and café’s as the sun creates a sparkling glow reflecting from the water in the harbor nearby. What better place could you imagine for the first Portuguese Pocoast seminar on coastal research. A review of three days of knowledge exchange at the Porto University. During the seminar issues of all ENCORA themes were presented. The organization even found space for an eleventh theme; Coastal dune fields. During the seminar it became clear that throughout Europe there are major issues concerning ecological health and shoreline erosion. Monitoring and research focuses largely on a better understanding of the changes occurring and the processes involved. In ICZM it seems that public participation has become an important aspect in some countries and projects, as was also shown by a presentation about ICZM in Brazil. The Brazil example gave a very interesting view of coastal zone management involving public participation from small communities of indigenous people. Countries around the Black Sea experience their own kind of problems now that tourism is booming and pressure on land use around the shoreline is increasing. Outdated legislation and lack of experience prove to be quite challenging as was illustrated with pictures of narrow beaches being turned into concrete roads with seawalls. It came as a shock to realize that the areas with the biggest effort against erosion, are in the worst shape of all. In these areas it appears that ENCORA can make a huge contribution in spreading knowledge and experience. After three days I look back at a very good seminar. Most presentations were of high quality and the program was running like clockwork. At the closing session all my questions were answered, except one! Fortunately I was asked to say something at the closure session: “Ladies and gentlemen, could everyone please put their articles and presentations in a Wiki-format on the Coastal Wiki? “ " YPEP echoes from PoCoast seminar As a participant in the PoCoast seminar, Servet Karasu of Rize University in Turkey experienced the following: The PoCoast seminar was a good experience to take courses from Professors who are famous in their field, like Leo van Rijn and Mutlu Sumer. After the theoretical parts the technical visit to Northwestern coast of Portugal gave the opportunity to see different coastal structures in reality. The interaction of young professionals from different countries will be beneficial for future ICZM plans. |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||
National news is in this issue
ECSA 44 Symposium - Science and Management of Estuaries and Coasts: A Tale of Two Hemispheres  29 September - 3 October 2008, Bahía Blanca, Argentina Read more WikiSym 2008 - the International Symposium on Wikis 8-10 September 2008, Porto, Portugal Read more New Nordic Education in Marine Ecology and Climate Read more Risk meets Crisis - Final conference of the two projects Chain of Safety and Safecoast Invitation to Water Network for Water Professionals Read more Job VacanciesPhD Position for Biologist/Physical Geographer/(Civil) Hydraulic Engineer The Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology (CEME)/the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO) Deadline for applications: 9 July 2008 Read more
|  Colophon The ENCORA objective is to facilitate and create new opportunities for sharing knowledge and experience on coastal issues in Europe. This electronic newsletter will inform you frequently about the activities and achievements of the network. Every issue will contain a section with news about your national network or ICZM related topics in your country. This electronic newsletter may be forwarded freely to others working in the ICZM fiels. If you would like to receive the ENCORA Newsletter directly, please contact your national coordinator or subscribe to www.encora.org. News-items for publication can be send to encore@rikz.rws.minvenw.nl. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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