The Assembly of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO held its 27th Session in Paris from 26 June to 5 July 2013. The IOC Assembly, composed of 145 Member States, meets every two years. It is the main body that approves the IOC´s 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 the coastal and marine environment, through further development of science-based management tools.

The PEGASO project and its achievements were presented to the IOC Member States during this 27th Session of the IOC Assembly. The project was described as a regional approach to help develop Member States´ capacity for the application of ecosystem-based management tools. IOC is one of the 25 partners involved in the PEGASO project.

IOC presented the indicators for implementation of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Protocol in the Mediterranean, which are also widely applicable to ICZM elsewhere. It also explained the chosen approach for preparing the Integrated Regional Assessment (IRA), which will provide a better understanding of the complexity of multidimensional issues related to the coastal and marine environment of the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

For more information: Julian Barbière and Francesca Santoro 

Photo: (c) UNESCO