Track B. Oceans and marine sustainability: innovation and management
Track Chairs:
Maria Helena Costa. MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre. Dep. of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Science and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.
Henrique Cabral. MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre. Dep. of Animal Biology, School of Sciences, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
Contacts: mhcosta@fct.unl.pt; hncabral@fc.ul.pt
Goals and objectives of the track
Oceans are crucial for climate regulation, for the production of goods and services, for human survival; over 3 billion people worldwide depend upon services from marine and coastal biodiversity. Under Blue Growth strategy, from the European Union, new marine goods and services, such as marine renewable energy, marine biotechnology and marine minerals, are seen as important sources of employment, economic security and sustainable development.
As a consequence of climate change, warming and acidification of the oceans can be expected, with serious consequences for marine biodiversity and productivity at regional and global scales. The focus on marine and maritime governance is crucial. An effective implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) will be key for ensuring sustainable use of the seas but the first steps must be built on and used to strengthen the development of the Integrated Maritime Policy and the implementation of the EU Directive on Marine Spatial Planning. So, the further development and implementation of policies for marine sustainability needs urgent recommendations, supported by scientific knowledge of marine ecosystem, although many uncertainties remain.
Researchers in ocean sustainability, face today important challenges, namely: the characterization of marine biodiversity, including habitat mapping; the implementation of the concept of good environmental status under the MSFD; the development of integrated models linking the anthropogenic and natural pressures with socio-economic benefits and allowing building scenarios to explore future responses of marine ecosystems; how to produce real comprehensive and coherent ecosystem-based indicators, to identify interactions between ecological processes and marine species; how to achieve a sustainable use of the oceans that ensures marine goods and services are available for future generations, while meeting the demands of human population and economic growth
The main goal of this track is to discuss new approaches, concepts, methods and frameworks or case study applications that deal with sustainability innovation and management of oceans and marine systems. Therefore we invite contributions of both theoretical and empirical papers.
Contributions from the followings areas are sought‐after:
- Effective strategies for the mitigation of impacts to important marine habitats;
- Implementing tools for well-managed sustainable marine resources;
- Sustainable ocean and marine business innovation and development (e.g. biotechnology and minerals);
- Green Jobs and other social benefits of ocean and marine economic activities;
- Restoring fish habitats for recreational and commercial fishing;
- Creating sustainable resort tourism programs or fish friendly marinas, turning tourism into a tool for oceans and marine preservation;
- New indicator approaches involved in estimating the physical, ecological and social limits of ocean and marine sustainability issues;
- How stakeholders could be engaged to assess and report ocean and marine sustainability issues for incorporation into policy and planning.
You may submit your abstract by visiting the Ex Ordo abstract submission system (you will be required to setup an account first): http://isdrs2016.exordo.com/
