29 Aug A plan for the future of our coasts
Merle Sowman, member of CCRN (South Africa), recently attended the 2nd Scientific Steering Committee meeting of Future Earth Coasts (FEC) held at the University of Taiwan from 22-26th July 2016. One of the main objectives of the meeting was to develop and finalise the Science Plan and Implementation Strategy for the period 2016-2026.
What is Future Earth Coasts? Future Earth Coasts is a ‘community’ of organisations, scientists and practitioners from all disciplines of science, engineering, the humanities and law whose work addresses Global Environmental Change in coastal zones of the world. Future Earth Coasts is the re-launched Land Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) project with a remit to support sustainability and adaptation to global change in the coastal zone. FEC is committed to building a network to connect global knowledge covering all aspects of coastal zones of the world to intensify the impact of research and find new ways to accelerate sustainable development. A major focus of FEC is to promote the active collaboration between nations, disciplines, programmes, researchers and stakeholders to ensure knowledge is generated in partnership with society and users of science.
The Future Earth Coasts vision is to support transformation to a sustainable and resilient future for society and nature on the coast by facilitating innovative, integrated and impactful knowledge mobilisation. In a time of global environmental change and uncertainty, Future Earth Coasts is responding to current global and national challenges through the co-design and co-production of a new type of knowledge acquisition and application that links disciplines, knowledge systems, and societal partners to confront and resolve contradictions that reproduce unsustainable practices at the coast
FEC is eager to link up with various organisations and research groups and actors across the world that are engaged in work that align with their vision and are encouraging researchers, organisations and networks to Join the Conversation. Clearly, the activities and focus areas of CCRN are highly relevant to FECs agenda and opportunities for collaboration, sharing knowledge and lessons learned are immense and would be beneficial to both networks.
The FEC welcomes all disciplines of the scientific community, policymakers, managers and stakeholders interested in any aspect of global environmental change in the coastal zone to become part of our network and community. To find out more about Future Earth Coasts, become part of our community by subscribing to our mailing list and become part of this conversation. For more information on how to join visit our website http://www.futureearthcoasts.org/contact-us/ or e-mail us directly at: info@futureearthcoasts.org.
Post prepared by Merle Sowman, University of Cape Town.
Featured Image: Merle Sowman, UCT and member of CCRN with Martin Le Tissier, Executive member of FEC and Jiun-Chuen Lin, National Taiwan University, at the recent Scientific Steering Committee Meeting of FEC held in Taiwan 22-26th July 2016.