University College Cork, National University Of Ireland, Ireland
Description of Organisation:
The primary objective of the CMRC, http://cmrc.ucc.ie, is to make a significant contribution to the scientific understanding of coastal and marine environments and their management. The CMRC is a multidisciplinary research in University College Cork and its research activities four thematic areas:
- Coastal Governance including for example - Capacity building, Public participation, Networking, User requirements, Indicators, Carrying capacity, Marine spatial planning
- Marine Ecology (Population Monitoring & modelling, Risk assessment, Protocols for best practice, Biotelemetry)
- Marine Geomatics (Interpretation tools, Geophysical analysis, Data Acquisition, Policy links, Webenabled GIS, Portal & Information Platforms)
- Coastal Processes and Seabed Mapping (living and non-living resource evaluation, acoustic mapping, mariner aggregates, costal evolution, management of coastal erosion, wave climate hindcasting and prediction, physical/human response to climate change)
Main tasks in the project:
- Coordinate and implement Actions under relevant Workpackages (primarily WP4-6) for Ireland
- Subject to discussion / agreement to Lead Workpackage 4, Platform for Dialogue of Stakeholders
- Contribute as required to the other Workpackage actions
Relevant experience:
The CMRC has been involved in Coastal Management initiatives since 1994 and is currently engaged in over 25 National and European marine focussed projects including seven EU Framework projects and four INTERREG projects. The Centre is the Lead Partner on the large-scale INTERREG NWE project, IMCORE, Node Leader on the FP6 project, SPICOSA and is a Workpackage leader in several FP7 projects, including COEXIST, NETMARE and MESMA. Within the CMRC the Groups that are of direct relevance to this particular project proposal are Governance and Geomatics:
- The Governance Group have collaborated on numerous national and international projects aimed at improving understanding of the inter-relationships between government, market and civil society at a range of scales. The Group has extensive experience of organising workshops and post-graduate field-courses across Europe to look at environmental issues including marine litter.
- The Geomatics Group have an excellent track record in the use of data management for effective marine resource management. Sound data handling is required to develop an integrated management solution; from the development of tools for data integration for scientific analysis, to decision support systems for policy makers, to communication technology for engaging with stakeholders. The Group has developed several information portals including the Marine Irish Digital Atlas (MIDA) and has recently been awarded the contract to develop a Climate Information Platform for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Ireland.