To go to the Scientists page, please click here
SESAME Stakeholder Forums
The SESAME research project is funded by the European Commission's Sixth Framework Programme, under the priority Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems. Its main goal is to assess the changes that have occurred in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea ecosystems over the last 50 years, while simultaneously predict changes in the ability of the two seas to sustain essential ecosystem functions in the next 50 years. SESAME will study the Mediterranean and Black Sea ecosystems as well as their abilities to provide goods and services with high societal importance, such as tourism, fisheries and ecosystem stability through conservation of biodiversity. .
SESAME wishes to communicate its scientific and policy aims to the scientific community and the stakeholders who are responsible for making decisions and forming opinions regarding environmental and socio-economic issues. In order to accomplish this task, SESAME is organizing a set of Stakeholder Forums to take place over the coming year, which will involve the scientific community, representatives from the political and economical fields, environmental foundations, and non-governmental organizations, as well as representatives from the tourism industry. The main purpose of these open forums-dialogues is to introduce and inform all parties about the current environmental policies that are designed to protect the Mediterranean and the Black Seas (and particularly the Greek Seas), and to further promote the exchange of ideas and opinions on how to best protect these marine environments.
The Stakeholder Forums will present the scientific findings and innovations of the project until the present day, to discuss and analyze the important matters that are associated with potential threats in the marine and coastal environment of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, as well as the European policies regarding marine protection.
For further reading on stakeholders in general as well as SESAME's approach regarding science and policy, please download the relevant document.
SESAME Stakeholder Forum: Mediterranean & Black Sea: Science & Socio-Economic Management, Varna, Bulgaria, 16 October
The first SESAME Stakeholder Forum was organized in Varna, by the Institute of Oceanology-Bulgarian partner in the Project. The main aim of the Forum was to present the Project and the achievements so far to stakeholders and the public in order to initiate a discussion about the threats of the Mediterranean - Black Sea Ecosystems and the possible solutions. The Forum was attended by representatives of 14 Organizations, among which the Varna Regional Governor, Black Sea Basin Directorate, Marine Administration, Scientific Institutions, NGOs, students and the general public. Special guests to the Forum were Prof. Papathanassiou - the SESAME Project coordinator from the Hellenic Centre for Marine research in Athens and Prof. Skourtos from the Aegean University in Greece, who presented the Project’s ecological and the socio-economic aspects. Scientists from IO-BAS presented some of the results from the SESAME field cruises for assessment the recent ecological state of the Black Sea. The participants were given the opportunity to fill in questionnaires and express their opinion about the Black Sea ecosystem future, the main threats and the formulated scenarios for sustainable management. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Papathanassiou gave the award to the student from the Gymnasium for Natural Sciences – first prize (computer) from the SESAME Contest. The Forum achieved wide media coverage – the interviews were published in a number of Newspapers and online by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency.
Press clippings of the event's coverage.
The Stakeholder agenda is available for download.
The list of participants in the Varna Stakeholder Forum is available to view and download.
SESAME Stakeholder Forum: Mediterranean & Black Sea: Science & Socio-Economic Management, Athens, Greece, 21 October 2009
The second SESAME Stakeholder Forum was organized in Athens, by the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research. The main aim of the Forum was to present the Project and the achievements so far to stakeholders and the public in order to initiate a discussion about the threats of the Mediterranean - Black Sea Ecosystems and the possible solutions, mainly focusing on the Greek Seas. Representatives of six organizations attended the meeting, among which the Ministry of Environment, NGOs, students and journalists. The SESAME Project coordinator from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Athens gave a brief introduction of the project to the participants, while presentations on specific topics followed. The participants filled in questionnaires in order to express their opinion about the future of the Greek marine ecosystem, the main threats and the scenarios for sustainable management. The meeting ended with an open discussion and dialogue between all participants.
See press clippings of the event's coverage ( in greek ).
- 22/02/2010 :
Ph.D. positions at the Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark - 17/02/2010 :
ClimECO2 - International Summer School co-organized by IUEM, IMBER and Europole Mer, 23-27 August 2010, Brest, France - 11/02/2010 :
Official Annual Conference of the European Ocean Energy Association, Brussels, Belgium, 6-7 May 2010 - 03/02/2010 :
14th International Conference on Harmful Algae, Hersonissos, Crete, Greece, 1-5 November 2010 - 13/01/2010 :
EGU General Assembly, 2-7 May 2010, Vienna, Austria - 13/01/2010 :
IMBER IMBIZO ll: Integrating biogeochemistry and ecosystems in a changing ocean: Regional comparisons, 10-14 October 2010, Crete, Greece - 16/11/2009 :
Oceans Past III: Stories from the sea-history of marine animal populations and their exploitation: Call for papers - 23/06/2009 :
Rising ocean temperatures near worst-case predictions - 16/06/2009 :
International Conference on Coastal Conservation and Management in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, 11-17 April 2010, Cascais, Portugal - 11/06/2009 :
39th CIESM Congress - Venice, Italy, 10 - 14 May 2010 - 09/06/2009 :
Report of the Stakeholders Conference, Maritime Day, Rome, Italy, 19-20 May 2009 - 07/04/2009 :
The White Paper: Plans to prepare Europe for climate change - 07/04/2009 :
Impacts of Europe's changing climate: 2008 indicator-based assessment report - 07/04/2009 :
CIESM Atlas of Exotic Macrophytes in the Mediterranean
