INTERREG MED CO-EVOLVE Project kick-off

MED CO-EVOLVE - Mediterranean territories work together to improve sustainable maritime tourism

The kick-off meeting of the INTERREG MED CO-EVOLVE project – led by the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace – took place in Komotini (Greece) on 12-13 January.

The partners involved in CO-EVOLVE (Promoting the co-evolution of human activities and natural systems for the development of sustainable coastal and maritime tourism) project – including the CNR-ISMAR – gathered in Greece for the official launch of the project.

CO-EVOLVE is an INTERREG MED 2016 modular project developed under the Programme’s priority axis 3 (natural and cultural resources) and specific objective 3.1 (sustainable tourism). It aims to analyse and promote the co-evolution of human activities and natural systems in touristic coastal areas, allowing for the sustainable development of touristic activities, based on the principles of Integrated Coastal Zone Management/Maritime Spatial Planning.

CO-EVOLVE recognises that a key challenge for sustainable coastal and maritime tourism development is the strengthening of cooperation among regions and the joint development and transferring of approaches, tools, guidelines and best practices.

It brings together an analysis at MED scale of threats and enabling factors for sustainable tourism with local studies on seven representative Pilot Areas. The aim is to demonstrate through pilot actions the feasibility and effectiveness of an ICZM/MSP-based planning process.

As an M1 + M2 modular project, CO-EVOLVE will be divided into two phases: studying, which consists in analysing and defining the state of the art at MED and pilot area scale and testing, during which instruments, policies, strategies and joint plans already identified in M1 through pilot activities will be tested in order to set up solutions applicable to a wider set of users and territories.

During the Kick-off meeting, partners discussed the overall organisation of the project as well as the specific content of each work package.

CO-EVOLVE involves institutional and technical partners, including the Region of East Macedonia and Thrace (lead partner), the Emilia-Romagna Region, the Department of Hérault, the Croatia’s Priority Actions Programme Regional Activity Centre (PAP/RAC), the CPMR-Intermediterranean Commission, the universities of Thessaly and Venice, the Dubrovnik Neretva Regional Development Agency, the Veneto Region’s Po Delta Park, the Public Institution for Coordination and Development of Split Dalmatia County, the Port Institute for Studies and Cooperation of the Valencia Region (FEPORTS) and the CNR-ISMAR.

The CNR-ISMAR – which is a full project partner – formerly had an essential role during the set up and drawing of project proposal, and is in charge of coordinating work package 3 on studying; moreover the Institute has an important role as task leader or contributor in many other project activities. The main objectives of work package 3 are to provide a complete and integrated analysis of the principal threats and enabling factors for a sustainable and ecosystem-based coastal tourism development at MED and Pilot Area scale, allowing a positive co-evolution of human activities and natural systems; to perform a quali-quantification of the sustainability of tourism at MED and Pilot Area scale to address their strategic planning, developing an operational Tourism Sustainability Toolkit; to develop tourism oriented Action Plans in Pilot Areas, according to ICZM Protocol, 2014/89/UE, Sustainable Coastal Tourism Strategy.

You can follow the project on Twitter at @CoEVOLVEmed.

For more information about the CO-EVOLVE project and ISMAR role, please contact ISMAR Contact Person Andrea Barbanti

More information about the Interreg MED programme is available here: http://interreg-med.eu/en/home/.