CoCoNet
Towards COast to COast NETworks of marine protected areas (from the shore to the high and deep sea), coupled with sea-based wind energy potential
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are restricted to national boundaries. CoCoNet is building
guidelines to shift the protection of our natural capital from a national to a transnational
perspective, with the creation of networks of MPAs. Clean energy production is a strategic
EU objective. Offshore Wind Farms (OWF) are crucial for the achievement of this goal in
Northern Europe, while being absent in Southern European Seas. This gap must be filled
with the greatest respect of environmental integrity. |
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The 39 institutes and SMEs of the CoCoNet
consortium are based in 22 States covering
the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, a significant
part of North Africa and Middle East,
and the European Union. In the first part of the
project, a significant sample of scientific communities
that seldom interact have started
working together to form a solid group of motivated
scientists. This was achieved after a year
of intensive theoretical elaboration of the crucial
topics for the project through a series of
thematic workshops and summer schools. The
Pilot Studies were then successfully carried
out as programmed, both in the open sea, with | oceanographic vessels, and along the shores,
with smaller vessels. The collected data regards
both biotic and abiotic features of the environment,
and also socio-economic issues. The patterns
and processes of connectivity among different
areas are critical for the establishment of
networks of MPAs, being measured with a series
of descriptors ranging from physical oceanography
to propagule dispersal, species distribution
and genetic similarities among populations. OWF
problems were nested into ecological problems,
with attempts of considering how to reconcile
the presence of MPA with that of OWF. The main
goal of working together is the abatement of the |
conceptual compartments hindering the dialogue
among disparate disciplines and sub disciplines.
The Pilot Projects proved instrumental for this
objective. The outreach activities of the project
got wide coverage from the media. CoCoNet
promoted transnational collaboration through
the sharing of infrastructures, data, ideas,
and people. The project has strong links with
FP7 projects such as VECTORS and PERSEUS,
further widening the network of collaborations.
With 'The Ocean of Tomorrow' projects the EU
is a powerful glue that will have long-lasting
effects on the scientific development of the area. |
The most stringent objective of this project
is to synthesize disparate pieces of knowledge,
so as to create a unitary vision of the
manifold aspects involved in environmental
management and conservation. Workshops
and summer schools are promoting dialogue
across disciplines, producing state of the
art accounts on the various aspects of our
research, treasuring the results of previous
EU projects. The common fieldwork carried
out in the Pilot Projects will test previously
elaborated hypotheses, with the use of large
oceanographic vessels and of smaller boats
for coastal research. The various layers of
information are being organized in a single GIS
(Geographic Information System) database:
the factual platform on which the guidelines
for the establishment of networks of MPAs and
of OWF will be produced. |
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