To go to the General Public page, please click here

Work Packages

Laboratory Over SESAME's four-year implementation period, existing information, models, simulations and scenarios will be integrated under several Work Packages (WPs). The models will embrace the broad spectrum of physical and ecological features and processes that characterise the Mediterranean and Black Sea, and will be calibrated against past and present data. The models will assess and predict the combined effects of natural and anthropogenic pressures on the ecosystem, and the predictions will feed into socio-economic drivers, further used to develop sustainable management policies for the Mediterranean and Black Sea ecosystem.

The goals of assessment, prediction, application, and training and information management, delineate SESAME's scientific objectives. The Work Packages are, thus, constructed as follows:

Assessment (WP1, WP2, WP3)

  • WP1: Collection of historical multidisciplinary and existing datasets and their analysis
  • WP2: Coordinated acquisition of new multidisciplinary field data in the Mediterranean and Black Sea
  • WP3: Data collection for model definition and validation in sub-regional seas

Collection of historical and current multidisciplinarydatasets will be conducted in order to analyse the signals of environmental changes in the past and validate the models. Simultaneously, new information will be gathered through multidisciplinary oceanographic cruises, which will provide an overall picture of the Mediterranean and Black Sea, as well as essential datasets for further model validation.

Prediction (WP4, WP5, WP6)

  • WP4: Simulate and understand the past ecosystem variability and change
  • WP5: Develop ecosystem models to connect low and higher trophic levels
  • WP6: Predict ecosystem changes for the next five decades

Both basin and regional scale simulations with coupled circulation-ecosystem models will be used to predict the responses of Mediterranean and Black Sea ecosystems in the next fifty years. Model validation and upgrading will be achieved using existing and new data. A limited number of scenarios integrating stakeholder analysis and socioeconomic model outputs will also be chosen, later used to predict ecosystem changes resulting from each scenario.

Application (WP7)

  • WP7: Connect ecosystem functions to human uses and value the impacts of changes on goods and services for human welfare

Quantitative socioeconomic models will be used to consider the impact of ecosystem variability on human welfare, in the form of two goods - tourism and fisheries- and two services - ecosystem stability and mitigation of climate change. The two goods are closely related to ecosystem quality, while the two services can provide information on the impact of climatic change on marine ecosystems and their response.

Training and Information Management (WP8, WP9, WP10)

  • WP8: Capacity building, training and public outreach
  • WP9: Information Management
  • WP10: Project Management and Coordination

Training and educational opportunities will be provided across-the-board, through various activities. Most SESAME data will be made accessible to all stakeholders, and common standards and effective mechanisms for the collection and availability of SESAME related historical data, newly collected data and model data will be implemented, while SESAME's proficient management will ensure the high quality of deliverables in the most efficient/scientific way