The PEGASO project (funded under the EU´s Seventh Framework Programme) organized a regional workshop in Arles (Tour du Valat, France) from 13 to 15 November 2012 to explore future visions for the coastal zones of the Mediterranean based on integrated assessment tools. Experts, decision makers, planners and ICZM practitioners, as well as members of PEGASO and of the End-Users´ Committee who work on coastal zone issues at different scales, were invited to discuss the types of ICZM policies and management activities that could achieve the goals of the Barcelona Convention and its additional Protocols.

The workshop involved a series of intensive discussions and other activities. The main outcome of the meeting was a draft vision statement that could be taken forward to stimulate further discussion about future ICZM strategies at the regional workshop for the Black Sea in Istanbul and subsequent debates within the PEGASO project. It was recognized that there would be different audiences for the outcomes of any visioning scenario work, and so a range of appropriately constructed documents and other outputs would be needed.

The workshop participants agreed that the organizers of the Istanbul meeting should review what could be carried forward from the Arles workshop, and should draw up a strategy and/or procedure for using this in the context of future work within the PEGASO consortium. The workshop for the Black Sea is planned to be held in Istanbul on 5-7 December 2012.