Science and Technology Advancing Governance of Good Environmental Status
| Project type: | EU FP7 Coordination and Support Action |
| Duration: | 24 months (Sept. 2012-Aug. 2014) |
| Budget: | € 1M |
| Consortium: | 8 partners |
| Coordinator: | Centro Tecnológico del Mar (CETMAR) |
| Website: | www.stagesproject.eu |
| EMB role: | Work Package 4 Leader |
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is designed to deliver “Good Environmental Status” (GES) in EU marine waters by 2020. This Directive requires that Member States (MS) with marine territories put in place measures to achieve and maintain GES within a defined timeframe and according to eleven key descriptors of environmental status. However, there is a significant knowledge deficit which may hinder full implementation of the MSFD and the achievement of GES in EU waters. The STAGES project is designed to directly address this knowledge deficit.
STAGES Proposal for a Science-Policy Interface to support implementation of the MSFD
The European Marine Board led Work Package 4: “Building a Science-Policy Interface to support MSFD implementation”. A Proposal was developed based on extensive Stakeholder consultation (survey and workshop) and reviews of Best Practice to develop recommendations for an effective long-term Science-Policy Platform for MSFD. The Proposal sets out key components and recommendations for a SPI, together with a roadmap for step-wise implementation. It identifies the need for the SPI to build on existing initiatives and to focus on developing four key areas, namely: Harnessing MSFD-relevant knowledge through a strategic approach to knowledge management; Scientific and technical advice to provide relevant and timely advice to policy makers; Expert evaluation and synthesis of scientific knowledge to assess research needs and gaps and inform foresight activities and research agendas; Knowledge brokerage which lacks recognition and requires specialized skills spanning science, policy and communication. The proposal was presented at the STAGES final workshop on 19 June 2014 and the final version is now available here.
The STAGES project was completed on 31 August 2014. All final deliverables can be downloaded from the STAGES website
STAGES Impact
MSFD Project Coordination Group: On 23 September 2014, EMB presented STAGES and the final science-policy interface proposal to key MSFD stakeholders at a meeting of the Project Coordination Group at DG Environment in Brussels. Participants included representatives of National MSFD Competent Authorities, Regional Sea Conventions and the European Commission. This followed a presentation of the Concept Paper for the SPI to an earlier meeting of PCG on 10 March 2014.
STAGES @ EurOCEAN2014: On 7-9 October, STAGES partners joined some 340 European scientists, policymakers and other experts gathered in Rome for the EurOCEAN 2014 science-policy conference. Coordinator Marisa Fernandez presented STAGES in a session on Good Environmental Status together with presentations by the European Commission DG Research and Innovation, DG Environment, the Joint Research Centre and the OSPAR Regional Sea Convention.In a Plenary session, Maria Betti (Director, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, EC-JRC) launched the MSFD Competence Centre which will act as a science-policy interface for supporting implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive into the future. In the same opening session, Marianne Wenning, Director, Directorate C: Quality of Life, Water & Air, European Commission DG Environment, presented on ‘Marine ecosystems in Europe - policy objectives for healthy oceans’. The full EurOCEAN 2014 produced a Rome Declaration setting agendas for seas and oceans research.
Photo: STAGES partners and representatives of the European Commission at EurOCEAN 2014 in Rome, 7-9 October 2014. From Left to Right: Telmo Carvalho (EurOcean), Anna Cheilari (EC, DG Environment), Ana-Teresa Caetano (EC, DG Research and Innovation, Marine Unit), Sigi Gruber (EC, DG Research and Innovation, Head of Marine Unit), David Murphy (AquaTT), Kate Larkin (European Marine Board).
WP4 Stakeholder Consultation
To achieve full community input to the science-policy interface proposal, WP4 led by EMB conducted an extensive stakeholder consultation in 2013 and 2014. This took the form of a consultation survey, in-depth interviews with key actors and a stakeholder workshop. The methodology, analysis and results are presented in STAGES Deliverable D4.1.
Between 31 May and 17 July 2013 the European Marine Board launched an online Consultation on the MSFD science advisory process (Task 4.1). The survey was sent to European marine stakeholders working at a European, Regional and National levels. 112 full responses from 26 countries were received by the close of the survey with representatives from numerous marine sectors including; navigation and shipping, tourism and leisure, marine science/research, government, marine policy , fisheries and aquaculture, conservation, extraction, energy and marine spatial planning.
On 12 February 2014, the EMB, in collaboration with the DEVOTES project, held a Stakeholder Workshop in Brussels to further collect views from MSFD stakeholders. Visit the workshop webpage here.
Responses from the full Consultation have been used to assess Stakeholder engagement in the MSFD science advisory process and ways to enhance knowledge uptake. Results have informed the development of a proposal on recommendations for a long‐term science‐policy interface to enhance MSFD implementation (Task 4.2). An advanced draft of this paper was presented to external stakeholders at the final STAGES meeting on 19 June 2014 in Brussels. Stakeholders attending included the European Commission, Regional Sea Conventions, national MSFD stakeholders and industry.
Contact at the EMB Secretariat: Kate Larkin Email