Chairs: Anastasia Stratigea (National Technical University of Athens, Greece) and Tommy Inkinen ( University of Turku, Finland)
Type: hybrid
Intense, beyond carrying capacity limits, exploitation of coastal and marine resources in the Mediterranean has led to unsustainable patterns and degradation of land/marine resources. These are expected to further deteriorate, due to the multi-sectoral economic interests seeking to accommodate their activities in the Mediterranean marine and land/coastal space.
The session proposed by the Commission of the Mediterranean Basin (C20.33) in cooperation with the Commission on “Geography of Information, Innovation and Technology” (C20.16), aims at highlighting current and emerging challenges and prospects in the Mediterranean coastal and marine scenery. Contributions of researchers with a main focus on topics relevant to planning, policy and governance of coastal and maritime regions in the information and globalization era are welcome. Specific not exclusive themes are:
• Current and emerging challenges in the marine environment in general (e.g. other European or world seas) and the Mediterranean in particular (climate change, maritime energy infrastructures, competing maritime uses).
• Sustainable blue economy.
• Maritime Spatial Planning Coordination with land-based spatial developments at various policy making levels.
• Governance aspects in the marine environment.
• Land marine interaction (ports, fishing, tourism, energy, etc.).
• Smart and sustainable island communities ICT-enabled and integrated approaches of land and maritime spatial and developmental planning.
• Coastalization and touristification trends in coastal and insular regions – impacts on coastal and marine ecosystems.
• Sustainable and resilient exploitation of underwater cultural heritage Unveiling historical trails of the European seas.
• Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their applications in coastal and marine space in pursuing sustainability and resilience concerns (e.g. smart ports, marine surveillance, smart marine traffic management).
Keywords: land-sea interaction, planning and policy, maritime spatial planning (MSP), smart and sustainable islands, ICTs