THE MEDCOAST INSTITUTE 04:
The Seventh International Training Program on
Integrated Coastal Management in the Mediterranean & the Black Sea
31 August - 14 September 2004, Dalyan - Aegean Coast, T U R K E Y
THE MEDITERRANEAN CHALLENGE
The MEDCOAST acronym was used for the first time in association with the First International Conference on the Mediterranean Coastal Environment, MEDCOAST 93, which convened in Antalya (Turkey) during 2-5 November 1993. Since then, MEDCOAST acronym has been used many times in activities carried out in three directions, namely; scientific meetings, human resource development, and collaborated research.
MEDCOAST has gone a long way during the past eleven years. The second and third MEDCOAST Conferences, MEDCOAST 95 and MEDCOAST 97, were successfully organised respectively in Tarragona, Spain and Qawra, Malta. Furthermore, MEDCOAST organized an important workshop in Sarigerme (Turkey) in 1996, with the title of the State-of-the-Art of Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and a thematic conference in 1999 on Wind & Wave Climate of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The fourth conference (MEDCOAST 99) was organised jointly with the fourth EMECS conference in Antalya (Turkey). The fifth MEDCOAST conference, MEDCOAST 2001 was organised in Hammamet, Tunisia. The sixth MEDCOAST conference, MEDCOAST 2003 was organised in Ravenna, Italy. These scientific meetings produced 18 volumes of proceedings totaling more than 12000 pages. These volumes contain valuable data and information on the coastal and the marine issues of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
On the side of the training programs, MEDCOAST organised six MEDCOAST Institutes (94, 95, 96, 98, 99 & 02) on the topic of Inegrated Coastal Zone Management in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Additionally, MEDCOAST started in 1995, another training program series on Beach Management, and organized six succesful events in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2003. These past programs produced 236 MEDCOAST alumni distributed to 33 countries.
The succesful MEDCOAST efforts were acknowledged internationally in 1997, by the prestigious PEW Award in Marine Conservation given to the MEDCOAST's founder and Chairman, Prof. Erdal Özhan.
Today there is a great deal of interest in the Mediterranean basin, including the Black Sea, for integrated coastal management, at both national and international levels. "Sustainable development" of the Mediterranean coastal and sea areas, and the integrated coastal mangement (ICM) are now two major goals of the Mediterranean Action Plan. The Black Sea, which has seen a drastic decline in environmental conditions and resources since 1950's, with acceleration over the last two decades, has recently been the focus of attention of significant international efforts (The GEF Black Sea Environmental Programme, The Black Sea Strategic Action Plan).
Over the last eleven years since its birth, MEDCOAST has received extreme satisfaction for contributing to national and international efforts for protection and rational management of the coastal and sea areas of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, and for building up an ever-growing MEDCOAST Family of professionals collabrating for a common goal.
MEDCOAST INSTITUTE
MEDCOAST Institute is a unique, well-established, and high quality, international training program on integrated coastal management (ICM). The curriculum is specially designed to address issues and problems, which are particular to or significant for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea countries. The program is carried out with a high level of interaction between the participants and the faculty members.
The program of MEDCOAST Institute 2004 consists of three parts:
1) Four days long in-class training, including lectures by the international faculty on various topics related to ICM in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, presentations by participants on their country experiences, and group exercises, to be held in a pleasant hotel in Dalyan (31 August - 3 September).
Emphasised topics are:
· ICM issues and problems in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
· Sustainable development and theoretical framework for ICM.
· Physical and ecological description of coastal systems.
· Coastal and marine resources, uses, and coastal development activities.
· Coastal tourism.
· Beach management.
· Use of coastal engineering technology.
· Coastal water quality & litter.
· Coastal management techniques and tools.
· Specially protected areas
· Remote sensing and GIS.
· Environmental economics.
· Institutional and legal arrangements.
· Review of ICM activities in the Mediterranean.
· Review of international efforts for ICM in the Black Sea.
2) A week long, hands-on study trip and field observations on traditional wooden boats sailing along the Aegean coast from Marmaris to Fethiye (Olu Deniz), and anchoring at locations of significant coastal conservation and/or development activities for observations, applied research and interviews with various actors of coastal management. There will also be a number of lectures on the boat (4-10 September).
3) Workshop with hands-on training, including lectures by the faculty on topics relevant to the field trip, presentations by the participants on their field work, group discussion sessions and exercises in the pleasant hotel in Dalyan (11-14 September).
THE AEGEAN COAST FROM MARMARIS TO FETHIYE
Marmaris is the most important destination for international tourism on the southern Aegean coast of Turkey. The breathtaking natural beauty of the Marmaris Bay (declared a National Park in 1995) with wooded sloping shores and pocket beaches, and with basically pristine surrounding areas, attracts thousands of Turkish and international holiday makers every summer.
The Aegean coast from Marmaris to Fethiye, located further south, is one of the most important routes for sailing vacations, locally called "mavi yolculuk" (which translates as "blue voyage"). This highly attractive coast offers a great variety of coastal features, including steep slopes covered by pine forests, coves and bays, small islands, sand beaches, lagoons, coastal lakes, sand spits and inlets, wetlands, and alluvial plains. The coast has a number of areas of ecological significance, including nesting beaches of loggerhead turtles. It is also among the most important areas of cultural importance, being the geographical transition of two ancient civilizations; Karia and Lykia.
Tourism of all types, is the most important economical activity along the coast, most of it bearing "specially protected area" designation, and being managed by a national agency. The fertile plains have traditionally been used for agriculture. Dalyan lagoon is the most productive fishery along the whole Turkish Aegean coast. Forest areas, various archeological sites, marinas, an international airport, a naval base, mining facilities, sea transportation infrastructure, a paper factory, a state owned and operated big agricultural establishment, are among other coastal activities. The future MEDCOAST Center will be located near Dalyan Lagoon.
During the field study trip, different coastal features, various types of coastal development and activities will be visited. Interviews and discussions with developers, local governors and mayors, officials of the central government's field offices, NGO representatives, and local people will be arranged.
FACULTY
As it has been in all previous Institutes, MEDCOAST Institute 2004 will be run by an international faculty drawn from the fifteen Network MEDCOAST institutions including:
· Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey (Coordinator & Secretariat)
· University of Glamorgan and Air-Terra-Water Ltd. (U.K.)
· Catalonian University of Technology (Barcelona, Spain)
· Coastal Zone Management Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands
· Delft Hydraulics, The Netherlands
· Inst. for Remote Sensing Applications (Joint Research Centre of the EC) (Ispra, Italy)
· International Centre for Coastal and Ocean Policy Studies (ICCOPS), Italy
· Israel Institute of Technology (TECHNION) (Haifa, Israel)
· National Institute for Marine Science and Technology (Tunisia)
· Priority Actions Program Regional Activity Centre, Mediterranean Action Plan (PAP/RAC MAP) (Split, Croatia)
· Turkish National Committee on Coastal Zone Management, Ankara, Turkey
· University of Alexandria (Egypt)
· University of Corsica (France)
· University of Genoa (Italy)
· University of Malta (Valletta, Malta)
PARTICIPANTS
The highest priority target group for the participants of MEDCOAST Institute 2004 are the professionals holding mid-managerial positions in their central governments and being responsible for planning and execution of programs or projects on coastal and marine issues. The other groups are employees of coastal municipalities, non-governmental environmental organisations, universities and research centres.
The participants are required to have a basic university degree (Bachelor of Science, Engineering, Art or Law) in a relevant field, and work experience of at least 5 years.
Diversification of the nationalities of the participants has been an important consideration in the selection process, for maximizing cross national information exchanges during the previous Institutes.
LANGUAGE
The language of instruction in all activities of MEDCOAST Institute 04 is English. All participants must have a good command of this language.
FEES, FINANCIAL AID & ACCOMMODATION
The fee for participation at MEDCOAST Institute 2004 is 1,500 Euro. The fee covers all costs of the training program including full board accommodation throughout the course (except drinks and personal expenses), the field trip by boat, local travel and the course materials. Medical insurance is not included. Accommodation will be in double occupancy rooms. Single occupancy might be avaliable at an additional cost. Participants should bring funds for their personal expenses. The international travel should be organised to and from Dalaman International Airport, which is 25 km away from Dalyan.
Participants are urged to search for sponsorship from their ends (e.g. their governments, national and international donor organizations). Depending on the contributions of the sponsoring organizations, a few partial scholarships could be avaliable from the MEDCOAST Secretariat on an extremely basis, only for the participants from developing countries.
CERTIFICATE AWARDED
MEDCOAST Institute will award a certificate to participants who successfully complete all three phases of the program.
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1956, Middle East Technical University (METU) is a regional state university, having the objective of educating and training. Turkish and foreign students in scientific, technical and professional fields of study. Today, it occupies a highly attractive campus, and has about 20,000 students. Middle East Technical University has been the leading institute in Turkey in the fields of coastal engineering since early 1960's, and in oceanography since mid 1970's. The interest in coastal management within the coastal engineering division, both in research and teaching, dates back to the mid 1980's. Being the seat of MEDCOAST, METU is engaged in research and education in integrated coastal management in the scale of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. MEDCOAST, in collaboration with METU, aims to develop an international, interdisciplinary graduate curriculum in the field of integrated coastal management. The graduate degree program, to be conducted by an interdisciplinary and international faculty, completely in the English language, will be available to the international student body, with particular chances for students from the Mediterranean and the Black Sea countries.
