ISECA

Description of the action / project

Context

Eutrophication of coastal waters is still considered to be an important problem and has the continued attention of the European Community (www.ospar.org).

Eutrophication is one of the main causes of the deterioration of water quality. In the North Sea and the English Channel, this phenomenon is related to two major activities: agriculture and industry. Such environmental problems not only have an effect on life in the water but also on the coastal zone and its economic activities (tourism, recreation, environment). The eutrophication problem has been extensively discussed in the EU Water Framework Directive and the OSPAR Convention of 1992. Both Conventions aim to introduce a good management of our rivers and coastal waters. In order to achieve the objectives, the status of water quality must be published and monitored in monitoring programs. ISECA wants to optimize this monitoring through use of Earth Observation, but will also provide guidance on informing authorities and stakeholders (agriculture, industry, tourism) so that action can be taken in near future.

Methodology

ISECA is not exclusively oriented towards a scientific or technical approach of eutrophication. An important task is to identify the key actors and target public via different communication channels (web, surveys, workshops and conferences). An international advisory committee will be appointed to monitor the progress of the project and provide feedback from the end-user point of view on a regular basis. The interactive involvement of the end users is an essential aspect of the project, and will play a role in the design and improvement of the information system. The socio economical aspects will be covered by collecting the perception on the eutrophication, evaluating the “willing to pay” of the concerned population for remediation.

ISECA created a survey to sensitize the general public to eutrophication and to question the actions put in place.
Every citizen is affected by the quality of the water and can act!

For this survey, ISECA focussed on questions that determine the public perception of the phenomenon and on issues of socio-economic criteria using a variety of possible engagements.

Downloadable projects documents

Technical partners involved

ADRINORD Association pour le Développement de la Recherche et de l’Innovation dans le Nord-Pas de Calais, Lille (FR)
VITO Vlaamse instelling voor technologisch onderzoek, Mol (B)
PML Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth (UK)
University of Greenwich, Greenwich (UK)
VLIZ, Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee, Oostende (B)
NAUSICAÁ – Centre National de la Mer, Boulogne-sur-Mer (FR)
CEMARE Centre for the Economics and Management of Aquatic Resources, Portsmouth (UK)
NIOZ Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut voor Onderzoek der Zee, Yerseke (NL)

THE PROJECT

Objectives

The key objective is to demonstrate the added value of a flexible, web-based information system for efficient water management in the broader sense. The information system will use information concerning actors and datasets, provide access to data products aimed at the broader public. Furthermore, the available in-situ and earth observation data will be combined with integrated simulation models to give insight in the causes and potential ecological and economic consequences of eutrophication and the effectiveness of management options. This will be done by combining concepts from different scientific domains, taking into consideration the impacts on different sectors such as tourism, fisheries and aquaculture. Obviously the cross-border cooperation is very important due to the nature of the problem and the necessity to improve the harmonization of data protocols and indicators, as well as the exchange of experience related to the causes of eutrophication and potential solutions. The project consortium will also look for cooperation with similar European research programs such as GMES, MyOcean, COBIOS and DYMAPHY.