The 27th Assembly of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO held in Paris from 26 June-5 July 2013. The IOC Assembly, composed of 145 Member States, meets every two years and is the principal organ to approve the IOC general policy and main lines of work, including programmes and projects.

The IOC Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) Programme aims at increasing the collective capacity to respond to challenges in coastal and marine environments through further development on science-based management tools.

On the occasion of this 27th IOC Assembly, the PEGASO project and its achievements were presented to the IOC Member States. The PEGASO project was showcased as a regional approach to help developing Member States capacity for the application of ecosystems-based management tools. IOC is one out of 25 partners that are performing the PEGASO project.

Furthermore, IOC presented the development of indicators for the implementation of the ICZM Protocol in the Mediterranean which are also widely applicable in the context of the implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management elsewhere. Likewise, IOC explained the approach to prepare the Integrated Regional Assessment (IRA) to get a better understanding on the complexity of multidimensional issues related to the coastal and marine environment of the Mediterranean and the Black seas.

For more information: Julian Barbière and Francesca Santoro 

Photo: (c) UNESCO