At the heart of the PEGASO is the "shared ICZM Governance Platform" which has been designed to facilitate communications, exchanges and networking among PEGASO partners, End-Users from the Mediterranean and Black seas, and local stakeholders involved in the ten "collaboration application sites" (CASES). It has mobilized around 1000 stakeholders and scientists in an innovative way by developing active participation, sharing knowledge and better understanding of the scientific and pragmatic rationale of the PEGASO tools developed during the project.

The PEGASO governance platform has been also the place where knowledge and implementation capacities were fostered through a capacity building programme based on "learning by doing", and participatory activities.

From the very beginning of its functioning, the governance platform has been open towards regions, NGOs and institutions, and has attracted several other coastal and marine initiatives (RAMSAR, MEDWET, MEDPAN, the European Small Islands Federation, the Adriatic-Ionian Commission, etc). In this regard, the PEGASO governance platform has enlarged its concept to respond to the needs of most relevant Mediterranean networks. Hence, the platform has become a legitimate privileged meeting point of exchange and kind of hub for all projects, studies and initiatives related to ICZM in the Mediterranean and Black seas.

These four years of co-working through the PEGASO governance platform has allowed to draw lessons learned as well as guidelines focused on governance issues and also on how reporting on experience from the various components of the project (integrated tool box, CASEs, capacity building, Spatial Data Infrastructure and models for integrated assessments).

Prospects
The challenge now is to "mainstream" the results of the project and to sustain the ICZM Governance Platform, in the medium and long terms, as a "coastal knowledge centre", an "information portal" to support the ICZM processes and exchanges of knowledge in the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins. The aim will be continue serving the ICZM Protocol in large, and trying to embrace the EU Integrated Marine Policy, as well as create synergies with the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD).

For further info: Julien Le Tellier