European Conferences and Forum for Integrated Coastal Management and Geo-Information Research.

ECO-IMAGINE – European COnferences and forum for Integrated coastal MAnagement and GeoINformation rEsearch

The project, promoted in collaboration with the member ICCOPS as an initiative of the ICAM-GIS thematic network in the framework of the Sixth Framework Programme “Marie Curie Conferences and Training Courses”, was approved and started on 1st January 2004, foreseeing the organisation of eight European events in a period lasting 48 months. These events will be focused on topics of Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) and Geographical Information/GIS as support tool. Furthermore the project foresees the support, thanks to an important financing by the EC, to the participation of young researchers in the scheduled events. The Association publishes, for each event, a specific call. The initiative is focused on an interdisciplinary approach in order to integrate at the best different aspects of coastal management, as defined during the Joannesburg Summit of 2002. Particular attention is given to the planning and management of coastal landscape as meeting point between rural and anthropic aspects of the coast.

The project foresees three working groups on specific aspects of the sector taken into account:

• GI and building coastal knowledge
• GI and coastal Governance, Planning, Design
• GI and Waterfront Management

A fourth cross-cutting working group deals with the technological features of GI and their applications in the different branches of ICM.