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Southern European Seas: Assessing and modelling ecosystem changes

Final Report Summary - SESAME (Southern European Seas: Assessing and modelling ecosystem changes)

SESAME was an international research project that incorporated a variety of disciplines to explore and study the ecosystem changes of the Mediterranean and the Black Seas as well as their surrounding environments. The multidisciplinary nature of the project, supported by the European Commission, meant that it brought together scientists with expertise in marine biology, biodiversity, physical and chemical oceanography, and socio-economics, in order to better understand past and future ecosystem changes.

SESAME's innovation lies in its design, scope and focus, strongly reflected in the close merging of natural and economic sciences and the choice of a wide time scale, ranging from the past five decades to the next five to come.

SESAME made, for the first time, a joint and coordinated study of the SES and established a modelling and observational network, beyond country and basin borders. It provided innovative research in observational and numerical modelling fields and contributed further to socioeconomic research using international collaboration in the field of marine ecosystems. Bridged the gap between natural and socioeconomic sciences in view of the assessment of the ecosystems' ability to provide goods and services.