Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands

Legal provision for integrated coastal zone management

OPENING ADDRESS 

European Union-COMET: a TEMPUS/Tacis Project as a tool for the development of training and education in integrated coastal management in the Russian Federation 

Much interest is focused in the coastal zone, a relatively narrow band of water and land where the oceans meet the continents, resulting often in conflict among the various users. In order to find a balance between industrial growth and ecological safety, as well as to solve other environmental, social and economic problems, an approach known as Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) has been developed during last few decades. ICM has started to be used as a tool to manage coastal regions in a sustainable manner.

Innovations in ICM necessitate new approaches in education. ICM requires both an understanding of the environment, and of the human activities influencing it. Due to the complexity of the natural systems and the human activities in the coastal zone, an inter-disciplinary education is needed to achieve the goal of integrated coastal management. To avoid conflict between urban, industrial, residential and recreational land use, as well as the use of coastal and shelf resources arising from the expanding spectrum of human activities, a cross-sectoral consideration of the coastal zone is needed. This approach considers all the interactions between natural processes and economic development, but should also include other subjects such as ecological safety and conservation requirements, improved jurisdiction, and the impact of natural and human-induced disasters in the coastal zone. The lack of understanding of the coastal zone, as a whole, often results in sectoral approaches to management. This is linked to traditional training in the field of marine sciences or management, which does not guarantee a sufficient level of understanding of the integrity of coastal systems.

The first Russian training course specialized in ICM was initiated and launched by the Faculty of Oceanography of the Russian State Hydrometeorological University, St. Petersburg (RSHU). International experience in ICM and ICM-related training in particular are necessary for the development of an ICM strategy on the Pan-European level. International co-operation in the education will give students the opportunity to experience the ICM “wise practices” developed by different countries to achieve reasonable sustainability in coastal development.

With this in mind, TEMPUS/Tacis offered the ideal framework for the project “Development of Integrated Coastal Management Training and Education” (EU-COMET), proposed by the:

-       Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Cádiz (UCA), Spain;

-       Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro (UA), Portugal;

-       Department of Integrated Coastal Management, Russian State Hydrometeorological University (RSHU), Russia.

This consortium was constituted with support and advise from the UNESCO Program on Environment and Development in Coastal regions and Small Islands (SC/CSI). The overall objective is to contribute to the reform of higher education in Integrated Coastal Zone Management and to its adaptation to the socio-economic requirements and local environmental necessities in Russia. Note, that one of the project objectives is mutual academic recognition of the institutions involved through the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS).

To meet this objective it was necessary to develop new courses, curricula and teaching materials. Members of the consortium designed, developed and published four textbooks specifically for the Tacis project, although they are of general interest also. The books mirror the courses on offer: Environmental Law, Economics of the Coastal Zone, Integrated Coastal Management Planning Strategies and Coastal Policy. The design of the courses included the definition of objectives and contents, their inclusion in the ECTS, the relationship between lectures and practicals and the academic year in which they should be offered. The first two courses will be inserted in the 4^th ICM teaching year and the last two in the 5^th year. It is planned that all disciplines will be fully integrated in the plan of studies and will have full recognition by all the consortium member institutions.

In the medium-term, the impact of the books will be focused on the RSHU, where the new courses and the upgraded curriculum are being implemented. Recognition and recommendation of the new ICM curriculum by Ministries or educational authorities, and dissemination of results (including Distance Learning Packages on ICM) to other regional higher educational institutions will serve as proper indicators of impact. The high quality of the books should mean that they are of interest outside the Russian community.

	DelValls, TA
Coordinator of the European Union-COMET Tempus/Tacis Project Vice-Dean for International Affaires Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences University of Cádiz Pol. Río S. Pedro s/n, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz Spain

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