Bridging the Gap Between Policy and Science in Assessing the Health Status of Marine Ecosystems

Questions this practice may help answer

What are scientific findings regarding implementing the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), and its aim of achieving good environmental status in all European seas by 2020?

Implementation Context

The primary focus of this practice is the science required for implementing the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), and its aim of achieving good environmental status in all European seas by 2020. Manuscripts addressing the requirements of the MSFD, in terms of developing indicators, modelling and methods to assess environmental status in the European regional seas have been published, as well as manuscripts dealing with similar approaches in other seas, since they allow comparing and discussing the progress in this field in recent years from a broader perspective. There was a need to update the research overview in the subject of marine management.

Aspects / Objectives

• Provide an overview of an extensive collection of papers aimed at scientists and policy makers and implementers, at educators needing to communicate such up to date aspects to the next generation of scientists and policy makers, and at industry, which has to respond to the requirements of marine policy.
• Determine the lessons learnt and future directions in marine management and assessment.

Method

Scientific understanding and research is only valuable once disseminated to its users, especially those beyond the scientific community and because of this we emphasize the need to improve the two-way knowledge transfer between researchers and policy makers. Therefore, this practice presents ways to enhance the effectiveness of research results communication and show how DEVOTES (EU funded project) has contributed to filling in the gaps between policy and science for assessing the health status of marine systems, including the main challenges for the future

Main Outputs / Results

The book is a collection of scientific articles focussing on specific parts of marine policy. The following themes have been dealt with:

• indicators and frameworks to demonstrate the marine status over large and small spatial and temporal scales;
• Innovative methods for monitoring large marine areas, timescales or ecosystem components;
• Human pressures and impacts on marine waters and the conceptual basis underpinning this;
• The assessment of marine status and integration at different scales (spatial and temporal), different ecosystem components, and multiple indicators;
• The economics and cost-effectiveness of monitoring and management measures, including ecosystem services and societal benefits;
• Science for policy and implementing governance, with clear applications to assist managers in the process of decision making to improve marine health;
• The effective interaction and cooperation with stakeholders and innovative methods of communication between the different stakeholders.

The book can be downloaded here.

Transferability

The scientific findings are relevant for many European seas. Findings in a specific research article can be transferrable to other areas based on the subject. Please consult the book and the specific articles for more information.

Costs / Funding Source

This book is a result of DEVOTES (DEVelopment Of innovative Tools for understanding marine biodiversity and assessing good Environmental Status) project, funded by the European Union under the 7th Framework Programme, “The Ocean of Tomorrow” Theme (grant agreement no. 308392),

Responsible Entity

Frontiers
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CH – 1015 Lausanne Switzerland
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researchtopicsfrontiersin.org (researchtopics[at]frontiersin[dot]org)