STAGES Sets the Scene for Effective MSFD Implementation
15 July 2014
Austria
The workshop - entitled From Knowledge Generation to Knowledge Application – How can we bridge the gap and ensure efficient management and uptake of research knowledge to support MSFD Implementation? - was held on 19 June. Key results and recommendations arising from the STAGES project were presented and discussed with the participants.
This event was extremely timely given the current status of MSFD implementation coupled with the latest discussions on the establishment of a Marine Competence Centre for Good Environmental Status (GES) hosted by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a partner in the STAGES project.
Speakers from the European Commission (DG Environment, DG Research and the JRC) set the scene and updated participants on the latest MSFD related developments. These presentations emphasised the need for access to scientific knowledge and a robust Science-Policy Interface for the development of common criteria and joint, coordinated action for MSFD implementation.
The STAGES project focused on identifying relevant knowledge, which had already been generated through marine environment research at both EU and national level, and analysing it so that it could be easily accessible and usable by policy makers and the wider MSFD stakeholder community.
More than 14,000 projects were reviewed, leading to the identification of over 4,000 marine projects, and almost 1,400 MSFD relevant projects. These projects were analysed, resulting in five State of the Art (SoA) Reports, an online visualisation tool showcasing the collected projects by GES descriptor and region, and a STAGES Wiki, where the SOAs will be freely available and updates by relevant scientific experts encouraged.
In a further effort to improve the current scientific understanding for assessing GES, STAGES organised three workshops to determine where knowledge gaps exist for five Thematic Areas: Biodiversity, Contaminants & Nutrients, Disturbances, Commercially Exploited Fish, and Hydrographical Conditions.
The short-, medium- and long-term recommendations for future research programmes in these areas were presented in the STAGES final event, and a draft policy brief containing these recommendations was presented to participants for review.
The concluding session of the STAGES final workshop focused on the STAGES recommendations for the development of a Science-Policy Interface and the future JRC Competence Centre for MSFD. One of the main results highlighted was the proposal and recommendations for a long-term Science-Policy Interface for MSFD, outlining an overarching architecture and components, as well as potential roles and actors involved. Experiences and case studies from a European, Regional (Black Sea) and National (France) perspective were also presented.
Overall, through the key presentations and following discussions it is clear that the work already accomplished by the STAGES team is ground-breaking but efforts must be made to continue this good work and support the setting up of a rigorous, evidence‐based scientific and technical advisory process to support MSFD implementing agencies.
For more information please contact the STAGES coordinator, Marisa Fernandez of CETMAR (mfernandez@cetmar.org) or visit www.stagesproject.eu.
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.
This event was extremely timely given the current status of MSFD implementation coupled with the latest discussions on the establishment of a Marine Competence Centre for Good Environmental Status (GES) hosted by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a partner in the STAGES project.
Speakers from the European Commission (DG Environment, DG Research and the JRC) set the scene and updated participants on the latest MSFD related developments. These presentations emphasised the need for access to scientific knowledge and a robust Science-Policy Interface for the development of common criteria and joint, coordinated action for MSFD implementation.
The STAGES project focused on identifying relevant knowledge, which had already been generated through marine environment research at both EU and national level, and analysing it so that it could be easily accessible and usable by policy makers and the wider MSFD stakeholder community.
More than 14,000 projects were reviewed, leading to the identification of over 4,000 marine projects, and almost 1,400 MSFD relevant projects. These projects were analysed, resulting in five State of the Art (SoA) Reports, an online visualisation tool showcasing the collected projects by GES descriptor and region, and a STAGES Wiki, where the SOAs will be freely available and updates by relevant scientific experts encouraged.
In a further effort to improve the current scientific understanding for assessing GES, STAGES organised three workshops to determine where knowledge gaps exist for five Thematic Areas: Biodiversity, Contaminants & Nutrients, Disturbances, Commercially Exploited Fish, and Hydrographical Conditions.
The short-, medium- and long-term recommendations for future research programmes in these areas were presented in the STAGES final event, and a draft policy brief containing these recommendations was presented to participants for review.
The concluding session of the STAGES final workshop focused on the STAGES recommendations for the development of a Science-Policy Interface and the future JRC Competence Centre for MSFD. One of the main results highlighted was the proposal and recommendations for a long-term Science-Policy Interface for MSFD, outlining an overarching architecture and components, as well as potential roles and actors involved. Experiences and case studies from a European, Regional (Black Sea) and National (France) perspective were also presented.
Overall, through the key presentations and following discussions it is clear that the work already accomplished by the STAGES team is ground-breaking but efforts must be made to continue this good work and support the setting up of a rigorous, evidence‐based scientific and technical advisory process to support MSFD implementing agencies.
For more information please contact the STAGES coordinator, Marisa Fernandez of CETMAR (mfernandez@cetmar.org) or visit www.stagesproject.eu.
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.