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Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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UNITWIN/WiCoP-Europe Workshop on Ports and Sustainable Coastal Development
Following a meeting of the UNITWIN/WiCoP-Europe Management
Committee in Roja (Latvia) in December 2003, an international workshop on Ports
and Sustainable Coastal Development was organized and hosted by the Russian
State Hydro-meteorological University, RSHU (26-28 May 2004, St. Petersburg,
Russian Federation). The meeting gathered over 30 participants from 13
institutions in the five country-members of the Network, as well as UNESCO
(represented by its Moscow
Office) and the European Union for Coastal
Conservation (EUCC). A variety of stakeholders were present of academic,
educational, industrial, administrative and decision-making backgrounds.
Students from RSHU also attended. The workshop was organized in line with the
UNESCO Coastal Regions and Small Islands unit (CSI) strategy of promoting
wise
coastal practices for sustainable human development.
The first day of the workshop was devoted to presentations on case-studies in Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Russia and Spain, as well as European Union for Coastal Conservation experiences (the list of presentations is given below). This was followed by two half-day round-table discussions on “Universities’ Co-operation as an Opportunity for Development of a Common Strategy in Integrated Coastal Management Training and Education” and on “Ports and Integrated Coastal Management”. On the last day of the meeting an excursion to the new oil terminal in the City of Primorsk (Eastern Gulf of Finland) was organized, so as to acquaint the participants with a variety of problems related to oil terminal operation: legal to environmental. This was followed by a meeting with the local municipal administration of the City of Primorsk and, in the afternoon, a visit to Beriozovie Island, a protected area near Primorsk. The workshop adopted a Resolution (see below).
 New oil terminal in Primorsk, Eastern Gulf of Finland |
High-level representatives of
regional and local administrations attended the workshop. Thus demonstrating the
great interest in sustainable coastal development at the decision-making
level of government.
The workshop was co-sponsored by UNESCO, RSHU and the
joint stock company LENMORNIIPROECT (a St. Petersburg-based design company with
experience in port construction). Financial support from LENMORNIIPROECT and
RSHU made the workshop possible.
On the 29th of May the UNITWIN/WiCoP-Europe Management Committee met to summarize the results of the workshop and make plans for its future activities (see Minutes below).
United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Ministry of Education and Sciences of the Russian Federation
Russian State Hydrometeorological University
Joint Stock Company “LENMORNIIPROECT”
“WISE COASTAL PRACTICES FOR SUSTAINABLE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT”
UNESCO/UNITWIN WiCoP-Europe Network
Workshop on “Ports and Sustainable Coastal Development”
St.
Petersburg, Hotel “Dunes”
26-28 May 2004
Welcoming
address. Uli Graebener, UNESCO-Moscow
Office
Development
of port facilities on the Russian Baltic coast. Sergey Semenov,
“LENMORNIIPROECT” (Russia)
Sustainable
management of a coastal area subjected to high anthropogenic pressure.
Luigi Bruzzi, University of Bologna (Italy)
Environmental
management of coastal areas: socio-economic factors. Jose Manuel Gaspar
Martins, University of Aveiro (Portugal)
Study
of the participatory process (case of Primorsk). George Gogoberidze,
Maria Hahulina , RSHU (Russia)
Assessment
and evaluation of sediment quality in a coastal lagoon (Ravenna, Italy).
Roberta Guerra, University of Bologna (Italy)
Dredged material disposal
and beneficial use. Sergey Belenko, “LENMORNIIPROECT”, (Russia)
Remote
monitoring of small-scale oil spills. Alexandr D. Victorov, Pavel P.
Beckid , Michail A. Nilov, RSHU (Russia)
Characterization of dredged material in
Spanish ports: a multiple lines of evidence approach. Maria del Carmen Casado Martinez, Angel Del Valls Casilas, University of
Cadiz (Spain)
Oil spills risk management as part of an integrated coastal management facility. Alfredo Izquerdo Gonzales, University of Cadiz (Spain)
Estuary
of the Neva as a factor in town-planning: develpoment of St. Petersburg.
Boris P. Usanov, Honoured
Builder of the Russian Federation, Member of the Academy, GASU (Russia)
Proposal of guidelines for the
management of port sediments. Cristian Magnai, Central Institute of
Marine Applied Research (ICRAM), the Italian Ministry of Environment (Italy)
Experience
in development of distance learning (CD – Coast Learn). Ana Carolina
Perez Valverde, EUCC Mediterranean Center
Current
problems of airspace remote sensing monitoring of port complexes, the
coastal zone and shipping routes in the Gulf of Finland. Sergei
V. Victorov, Irina A. Bichkova, Research Institute of Airspace Geological
Methods, Sergei. V. Brestkin, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute
(Russia)
Resolution
of the International
Workshop "Ports and
Sustainable Coastal Development "
St.
Petersburg, 26-28 May 2004
In
cooperation with the joint stock company “LENMORNIIPROECT” (Russia) and the
Moscow office of UNESCO, the Russian State Hydrometeorological University (St.
Petersburg), being a partner in the UNESCO UNITWIN Network on “Wise coastal
practices for sustainable human development” in Europe, organized the
International Workshop "Ports and sustainable coastal development". It
took place in the holiday hotel "Dunes" on the 26-28 May 2004.
Participants included representatives of the collaborating universities,
specialists in the field of port design and practical operation, specialists in
the field of environmental protection from Italy, Portugal, Russia and Spain, as
well as representatives of Russian regional and local administrative bodies.
Representatives from UNESCO and the non-governmental European Union for Coastal
Conservation (EUCC) also took part in the workshop. The UNITWIN meeting program
included presentations, discussions and two round tables devoted to problems,
arising from building and use of ports, and also a field trip to the new oil
terminal in Primorsk, a fast developing port facility in the Eastern Gulf of
Finland.
The
international workshop "Ports and sustainable development of the coastal
zone" provided an opportunity to discuss a wide range of sustainable
coastal development problems. Open discussion of actual problems related to the
development of port facilities allowed exchange of experiences in: exploitation
of marine transport resources, safety of port transport operations (including
oil transportation), environmental impact assessment, problems related to
dredging activities, dredged material disposal and beneficial use, remote
monitoring of oil pollution, assessment of socio-economic impact as well as in
other problems of sustainable coastal development.
The
Workshop participants noted that:
Marine
transport and modernization of port infrastructure is an important factor in
the socio-economic development of the coastal zone. To be sustainable, it
demands a complex approach, taking into account the interaction of many
different factors. The first step is an impact assessment of port activity
on the environment.
The
effective regulation mechanism of any activity is appropriate law. However,
for the coastal zone such legal mechanisms are not always well developed.
In the Russian Federation coastal law is practically non-existent: federal
laws such as "About integrated coastal zone management", the "Coastal
Code" and some others have been drafted. It is vitally important that
legislation to regulate coastal management in Russia is developed. Defining
and treating the coastal zone as a discrete entity means that a general
strategy for its management can be developed to encompass its economy, resource
use and transport systems while safeguarding its ecosystems and the environment.
Comprehensive legislation will help to resolve existing conflicts between
different interest groups and between different levels of state government.
For example, workshop participants’ discussion of the development of a new
oil terminal in a municipal area of the City of Primorsk brought up various
points of view and potential conflict: the terminal is a federal property
that will not directly improve the socio-economic situation of the local
municipal community. However most of the population supports the port development
as a source of jobs and an impetus for the socio-economical development
of the city. (See Legal provision
for integrated coastal zone management)
Dredging
activities and the use and disposal of dredged materials are a continual
problem in harbours and ports. Variations on the London Convention on
Dumping (1972) form the legal basis regulating port dredging in various
countries. However, there need to be precise definitions and methodologies
for assessing the quality of dredged material (e.g. bio-testing) so that
suitable uses for it can be specified. An integrated approach to dredging
activities has to take into consideration economic factors, techniques,
ecological consequences and ways of recycling sediment. It would be useful
to prepare, on behalf of the UNESCO/UNITWIN Network WiCoP-Europe, a proposal
to create “Guidance for dumping - taking an integrated approach”. It
would be necessary to involve interested organizations with practical
experience in dumping and universities involved in integrated coastal
management. Possible partners are: the Institute of applied research of the
Ministry of Environment (Italy), the joint stock company LENMORNIIPROECT
(Russia) as well as the marine authorities of the ports of Cadiz
(Spain), Ravenna (Italy), Aveiro (Portugal) and Ventspils (Latvia).
The
large and increasing volumes of oil transported by sea means that an
important point in maintaining ports is to minimize oil spills and the risk
of oil spills. Remote sensing is a potential tool for oil spill management,
including minor spills. This would involve satellite monitoring of the sea
surface, data analysis and also creation of a special system of oil spill
monitoring in sea areas with dense oil-tanker traffic. Such systems would afford
both surface monitoring of oil spills in real time, and the creation of a
database of oil spills to identify their sources, and the assessment and
improvement of oil spill elimination plans. The workshop participants were
interested to hear of Russian experiments in using remotely sensed radar
observations of the coastal area of the Gulf of Finland (near the Primorsk
oil terminal). They wished to improve cooperation in this field and to
investigate their possible use in other climatic and hydrodynamic conditions
(for example, in the Straits of Gibraltar).
An
important task to ensure sustainable development of the coastal zone is
improving the educational level; both of highly skilled specialists in
integrated coastal management, and the population in general. It is legally
necessary to involve the public in planning decisions concerning ports and
other coastal structures. The level of their participation
depends on their
understanding of the real problems of the coastal zone and their possible
solutions. During the round-table discussions related to integrated coastal
management education, a common integrated coastal management course, that
could be adopted by all the university partners of the UNITWIN/WiCoP–Europe
network, was considered necessary. It was also noted that other institutions
would have to be involved in the preparation of case studies related to port
facilities. An important component will be the dissemination
of the teaching materials as interactive distance learning courses,
available not only to university students but also to specialists from
different branches of marine and coastal resource use. The European Union
for Coastal Conservation, having experience in preparation of the
“CoastLearn” distance modules, is ready to participate in this program.
A
field trip to the new oil terminal in Primorsk was organized. It afforded
the workshop participants a view of how an advanced Russian oil-terminal
operates and the safety mechanisms in place to ensure sustainability: fire
security, monitoring of environmental quality, control of ballast waters,
oil spill security service work, automatic navigation systems for ships etc.
This experience was highly appreciated by the participants, who are
grateful to both the authorities of the oil company "TRANSNEFT” and the
specialized oil port "Primorsk" for detailed familiarization with
the port.
UNITWIN/WiCoP-Europe Management
Committee Meeting
St. Petersburg, 29 May 2004
Minutes
Participants:
Maria del Carmen Casado Martinez (UCA)
Luigi Bruzzi (University of Bologna [UNIBO], Italy)
Roberta Guerra (UNIBO)
George Gogoberidze (RSHU)
Cristian Mugnai (Central Institute for Applied Marine Research [ICRAM],
Italy)
The
Scientific Committee of the UNITWIN/WiCoP-Europe Network met in St Petersburg on
May 29th 2004.
Representatives
of the co-ordinating University (Cadiz, Spain), the University of Bologna
(Italy) and the RSHU (Russia) attended the meeting. Members of the University of
Aveiro (Portugal) and the University of Latvia sent their excuses for being
unable to attend.
After
discussion the UNITIWN network members stated the following:
On
the basis of decisions taken by the previous Meeting in Roja (Latvia), a
project on sustainable tourism has been prepared and submitted for the
approval of UNESCO-ROSTE, Venice. Information about project approval and
financing is expected by the end of June; the participants consider that a
positive reaction by UNESCO will be an important signal for the development
of future activities of the network.
As
far as the UNITWIN Network management is concerned, a need for regulating
the activities was recognised: in particular, the programme and date of the
next UNITWIN coordinating meeting should be fixed sufficiently in advance
that all members may be represented and decisions be shared by all.
The
participants pointed out how important it is that the UNITWIN network
develops activities focused on programs applicable to the needs of private
enterprises and public institutions in such a way to get financial support
from them; additional UNESCO support is expected, to disseminate knowledge
and facilitate the exchange of young researchers and students.
The
Central Institute for Applied Marine Research of the Italian Ministry of
Environment (ICRAM) was represented at the meeting by Dr. Cristian Mugnai,
who made a presentation on port sustainability. ICRAM’s experience in
integrated coastal management makes it a candidate for inclusion in other
UNITWIN activities.
As
far as educational issues are concerned, it was agreed that the results of
the Tempus-Tacis project “COMET” (T_JEP-10814-1999, “Development
of Integrated Coastal Management Training and Education”,
1999-2002) should be recorded as an interactive educational CD-ROM on
integrated coastal management (ICM). This will include contributions on
specific case-studies by other partners. The European
Union for Coastal Conservation will develop the final version in the
form of a training tool suitable for dissemination of knowledge and as
reference teaching material for university and professional training courses
on ICM.
A
project proposal on education and curricula on integrated coastal management
will be submitted under the Tempus-Tacis programme according to the
deadlines of the next call (mid-December); Spanish and Russian
representatives will provide a first draft of the project to be integrated
with the contributions from other partners.
A
project proposal on dredging activities and dredged material management will
be drafted as a power point document by the University of Bologna with the
contributions from other UNITWIN members, as well as the
“LENMORNIIPROECT” company and ICRAM. The power point presentation with
the objectives and milestones of the project will be circulated among
UNITWIN members, and presented to interested parties at the next UNITWIN
meeting in order to collect comments and advice for the preparation of a
project to be financed partly by end users (private enterprises such as
SAPIR - Port of Ravenna, the Russian “LENMORNIIPROECT” company and by
public institutions such as Italian and Spanish port authorities).
A
project proposal on forecast, monitoring, and management of oils spills will
also be prepared by the Spanish partner and presented at the next UNITWIN
meeting.
The next UNITWIN
meeting will be held in November/December 2004 at the University of Aveiro
or at the University of Cadiz.
