STAGES’ Workshops Contribute Significantly to Assessment of Good Environmental Status
19 February 2014
Austria
European Member States with marine territories are required to implement measures to ensure that their marine waters achieve GES by 2020.
Defining what actually constitutes GES is a significant challenge for Member States. The MSFD outlines 11 key qualitative descriptors of GES to assess the marine environment. These descriptors are intended to provide guidance on achieving overall GES status. Although significant advances are being made in marine research which can support environmental assessment, there is a significant knowledge deficit for certain descriptors which may influence implementation of the MSFD and the achievement of GES in European waters.
The three STAGES workshops were:
• The identification of research needs with regard to the implementation of Monitoring programmes, 13-15 May, 2013, Brussels (download workshop report here: http://goo.gl/iWGTA1(opens in new window))
• Research needs with regard to the Pressures and their Impact on Marine Ecosystems, 4-5 September, 2013, Rome (download workshop report here: http://goo.gl/2rkdXs(opens in new window))
• Research needs with regard to the socio-economic analysis under the marine Strategy Framework Directive, 9-11 October, 2013, Ispra (download workshop report here: http://goo.gl/TxaRqs(opens in new window))
The results from the workshops’ six days of discussion involving 79 experts in total have been presented thematically, highlighting where specific knowledge gaps occur and providing short-term, medium-term and long-term recommendations for further research which can inform managers and decision makers in developing future research programmes.
For more information about STAGES and to access the presentations and reports from these workshops please visit www.stagesproject.eu or contact Marisa Fernández Cañamero, STAGES Coordinator (mfernandez@cetmar.org) or Raquel Diez Arenas (rdiez@cetmar.org), Centro Tecnológico del Mar - Fundación (CETMAR) www.cetmar.org.
Notes for Editors
STAGES is a FP7-funded project that is directly responding to a request from DG Environment to put a support action in place to facilitate the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Under the MSFD, EU Member States are expected to assess the overall status of their respective marine environments and to put in place the necessary measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) by 2020.
The STAGES project is being carried out by a consortium of eight partners in seven countries and is being coordinated by the Centro Tecnológico del Mar (CETMAR) in Spain. STAGES has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 308473.
Defining what actually constitutes GES is a significant challenge for Member States. The MSFD outlines 11 key qualitative descriptors of GES to assess the marine environment. These descriptors are intended to provide guidance on achieving overall GES status. Although significant advances are being made in marine research which can support environmental assessment, there is a significant knowledge deficit for certain descriptors which may influence implementation of the MSFD and the achievement of GES in European waters.
The three STAGES workshops were:
• The identification of research needs with regard to the implementation of Monitoring programmes, 13-15 May, 2013, Brussels (download workshop report here: http://goo.gl/iWGTA1(opens in new window))
• Research needs with regard to the Pressures and their Impact on Marine Ecosystems, 4-5 September, 2013, Rome (download workshop report here: http://goo.gl/2rkdXs(opens in new window))
• Research needs with regard to the socio-economic analysis under the marine Strategy Framework Directive, 9-11 October, 2013, Ispra (download workshop report here: http://goo.gl/TxaRqs(opens in new window))
The results from the workshops’ six days of discussion involving 79 experts in total have been presented thematically, highlighting where specific knowledge gaps occur and providing short-term, medium-term and long-term recommendations for further research which can inform managers and decision makers in developing future research programmes.
For more information about STAGES and to access the presentations and reports from these workshops please visit www.stagesproject.eu or contact Marisa Fernández Cañamero, STAGES Coordinator (mfernandez@cetmar.org) or Raquel Diez Arenas (rdiez@cetmar.org), Centro Tecnológico del Mar - Fundación (CETMAR) www.cetmar.org.
Notes for Editors
STAGES is a FP7-funded project that is directly responding to a request from DG Environment to put a support action in place to facilitate the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Under the MSFD, EU Member States are expected to assess the overall status of their respective marine environments and to put in place the necessary measures to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) by 2020.
The STAGES project is being carried out by a consortium of eight partners in seven countries and is being coordinated by the Centro Tecnológico del Mar (CETMAR) in Spain. STAGES has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 308473.