Participation is more than just a tool: it is a fundamental pillar of Integrated Coastal Zone Management. Within PEGASO, participation has been a cross-cutting issue and the basis for the integration of the tools developed. One of PEGASO's objectives has been to test and validate the assessment tools at regional and local scales to understand both global and cumulative local trends, and how they interact together in specific coastal and marine regions. Another objective has been to test and apply participatory methods, to assess difficulties and needs in the setting of a participatory management framework in the Mediterranean, as required by the ICZM protocol

The testing and validation have been based on the experience gained from work carried out at different scales at a number of Mediterranean and Black Sea sites, known as Collaborative Application SitEs (CASEs).

The 10 pilot sites chosen-seven CASEs in the Mediterranean Sea and three in the Black Sea-have acted as laboratories for testing the ICZM tools, identifying coastal issues, and disseminating and sharing spatial data, while also contributing to the Regional Assessment in both seas. They have also served to strengthen Mediterranean local stakeholder networks, to set or advance in an ICZM governance model.

The experiences of the CASEs in attempting to foster the adoption of Integrated Coastal Zone Management have highlighted a number of issues and constraints, such as the difficulties of bridging the gap between scientists and decision makers due to their different ‘languages' and outlooks, and the importance of involving the private sector in ICZM efforts and initiatives in order to translate principles and approaches into effective everyday practice.

Although the CASE work has identified the mismatch between the local scale of coastal governance and the complex, multi-scale nature of coastal systems, the coordination activity has contributed to the development of ICZM strategies and capacity building according to the specific characteristics of the individual local and national frameworks, and it has raised stakeholders' and end users' awareness of the importance of ICZM in addressing the main coastal issues.

A specific section of the PEGASO wiki describes the CASE objectives and activities.

Further information may be obtained from: Stefano Soriani

Picture: PEGASO CASEs map