Interoperable, standardised and adequate tools are important for coastal zone management and maritime safety. In respect to geographic data, it is a fundamental problem that data on the landward side is collected and maintained by topographic mapping or cadastral agencies and is utilised primarily for development, nature conservation etc., while sea data is collected by hydrographical survey services and focuses primarily on marine navigation issues. Furthermore, the collaboration between member states at national, regional and local level can be improved.
Aim The overall aim of the project is to improve Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Planning (ICZM&P) and maritime safety in a broad sense, by improving and contributing to harmonising terrestrial and sea geographical data, by developing planning and visualisation tools as well as improvement of navigation, in the context of climate change.
The project will provide a prototype for land/sea interoperable database for testing by practitioners in a study area. The project will develop a conceptual model for integrated spatial planning utilising GIS, tools for spatial planning in respect to renewable energy plants, and a web based decision support system for ICZM in a transnational context. An important aspect of the aim is to structure and supplement geographical data and provide planning/management tools that are consistent between sea and land.
Expected Outcomes
Deploy and test the decision-support system in practical planning contexts in four different municipalities
Disseminate and increase knowledge on estuaries amoung expert groups
Develop local estuary stories for local as well as international press & media
Increase capacities on tide estuary management throughout NSR/EU
Same level of understanding among regional & international partners
Set up of regional estuary working groups (REWG)
Convince policy makers: Harmonized starting point for future estuary management
Stronger involvement of stakeholders & general public in all estuaries
TIDE Measure Box available to other estuary managers, experts and decision-makers
Catalogue of measures to ensure proper functional estuary design
Further development of tools, measures, governance structures - TORs for joint guidelines
April - September 2010
The project has focused on user need surveys, state-of-the-art verifications and writing specifications. The work provides a profound basis for the developments planned for the next year.
As a result of the work on harmonization of maritime information a software package – The Electronical Nautical Checker 'ENC' has been made available for download after an extended testing period. The ENC harmonization tool is the result of an innovative process providing functions not currently available in any other tool.
The first conference in the BLAST project took place from 15-17 September 2010 in Hirtshals, Denmark. Nearly 70 participants attended the conference, which focused on outlooks for the marine and coastal environments, navigation and safety at sea, and knowledge-based integrated coastal zone management. The last day of the conference included a visit to three of the project test sites in Hirtshals to illustrate some of the coastal tension due to climate change and erosion.
The project welcomed Delft University of Technology as a BLAST Partner in June, following an application for a project extension. Seven NSR countries are now represented with partners in the project consortium.
October 2009 - March 2010
The BLAST Kick-off meeting was arranged on the 28-30 October 2009.
Some tangible outputs are already visible. Notably, the reports on the national policies, practices, institutional setups and data requirements regarding integrated coastal zone management in Denmark, Norway, Belgium and United Kingdom has been written. Together with a paper on EU policies concerning ICZM, these contributions are currently being put together into a comprehensive report.
The survey result is published as a report. The title is State of the Art: Nautical Information Management in 3 North Sea Port States. It shows how the discrepancy reporting is in Norway, Denmark and Germany. The results will be the input to the activities starting in the second period.
The project has promoted innovation within the North Sea Region during the reporting period through the introduction of the downloadable ''ENC checker' which works with the Electronical Nautical Chart (ENC's) for the entire North Sea area, has been extensively tested by Hydrographic offices in 6 countries during the development period.
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