Connecting People for Better Coastal Water Management in Europe

AWARE is funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme.

About AWAREWorking for sustainable water ecosystems management by means of scientists, citizens and decision-makers knowledge brokerage

Managers

Scientists Public

ManagersScientists

Public

Managers

Scientists

Public

Traditional managementLimited participation adaptive management

Integrated adaptive management

AWARE ObjectivesTo foster sustainable water ecosystems

managementTo enhance connectivity between research,

policy making and the publicTo link research to policy development

regarding sustainable water ecosystems management

AWARE posits that there is a potential for better connectivity between actors and that there is a need to improve it in the short term

AWARE Case Studies Pilot experiments were undertaken in:

The coastal waters of the Gulf of Riga (Estonia and Latvia)

The Seine, Somme, and Schelder river basins and the Southern North Sea coastal zone (France and Belgium)

The Po river Delta and Goro lagoon (Italy)

Project PartnersCoordinated by the Institute of Studies for the Integration of Systems (ISIS), 14 partners from 8 European countries brought their experience to AWARE:

Aquatic ecosystems studies Social sciences System analysis Integrated water

management Decision support systems for

the environment

University of Uppsala Université Pierre and Marie Curie Université Libre de Brussels Università di Parma adelphi Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in Social Sciences Missions Publiques Istituto di Studi per l'Integrazione dei Sistemi Joint Research Center - Institute for Environment and Sustainability Università di Siena Bioforsk Politecnico di Milano Baltic Environmental Forum

AWARE Knowledge Brokerage1st

European citizen

workshop Gulf of Riga

stakeholder

workshop &

conference

North Sea stakeholde

r workshop

& conferenc

eSacca di

Goro stakeholde

r workshop

& conferenc

e

2nd European

citizen workshop

European conferenc

e on linking

research to policy

AWARE ProcessDecision-makers

Scientists10 local Citizens

Stake-holders

Local Conference

process

Local Declaration Decision-

makers

ScientistsAll 30

AWARE Citizens

Stake-holders

European Conference

process

European Declaration!

The AWARE (potential) BenefitsConnects the EU and regional/local levels Engages randomly selected transnational groups of

citizens as catalysers of connectivity Creates a “public sphere” for transparent dialogue

among scientists, citizens, stakeholders, and policy makers

Produces citizen declarations for sustainability, raising awareness for all actors involved

May trigger adaptation of policies and programmes, at local and EU levels

Enhances “social capital” across Europe, and can be replicated across countries and topics of sustainability

AWARE Citizen Mandate“To provide their own assessment and recommendations to key European decision makers on why and how to link research, policy making and public participation for a better management of coastal environments in Europe”

Become aware of the key issues and challengesProvide local knowledgeDrive the local processShare findings at local and European levels

Citizen RecommendationsA holistic approach to coastal water

management„eutrophication is only one point of entry into broader ecosystem health issues“

Continued improvement in the Water Framework Directive (WFD)„we the citizens are concerned about the quality of our coastal waters and by the lack of consistency in water quality data“

Local solutions, now„the time for action has come… and all options should be evaluated against local environmental and socioeconomic criteria“

Citizen RecommendationsBetter connectivity between research, policy-

making, and civil society„scientific ambassadors could ‘translate’ critical information for citizens, business representative, and politicians alike“

Improved information to key actors„dialogue involving farmers, fishers, tourist agency, and citizens is crucial… and a special focus should be placed on children’s education“

„We as citizens are willing to take the first steps and hope other parties will follow.

Join us in this change!”

For more information about AWARE – including the citizen declarations and other publications – please see www.aware-eu.net

AWARE receives funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement n° 226456. The contents of this poster are the sole responsibility of the AWARE project and the European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.