AORAC workshop: Making the ecosystem approach operational

Promoters: 
DFO, EU, FAO, ICES, NOAA, AORAC
Place: 
Copenhagen, Denmark
Date: 
20/01/2016 - 22/01/2016
Summary: 
As part of a process to determine the science needs for investigating ocean stressors and the ecosystem approach, AORAC is organizing a workshop to scope what is seen as the "ecosystem approach" priorities and strategies of policy developers and stakeholders. The workshop will feed into the Galway process and be centered on science for blue growth The three day workshop will address questions that are currently challenging the implementation of the ecosystem-approach to management as it moves from single to cross-sectoral. ​ The focus of the workshop will be the main sectors that operate in the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas, namely shipping and ports, oil and gas, renewable energy, fishing, tourism, and aggregate extraction; specifically in relation to the blue growth agenda of the EU. The workshop is being organized, through AORAC, by the leading ecosystem approach experts from the UN, Europe, USA, and Canada. The workshop creates an opportunity for stakeholders to review concepts and address scientific, institutional, legal, and socio-economic challenges related to operationalizing the ecosystem approach. It also allows for the exchange of experiences, discussion of encountered constraints, and the identification of approaches and strategies to make this approach operational.