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ABSTRACT
The EU's International S&T Cooperation Programme (INCO) is part of successive Research Framework Programmes (FP) since FP4. Its predecessors were a series of Programmes called Science and Technology for Development (STD I-III), which started in 1983. INCO's most recent research thrusts were focused on meeting basic needs in health and health systems, sustainable use of natural resources, food security, cultural heritage. INCO also invests in S&T capacity building through mobilising teams from Europe and partner countries/regions for problem solving in partner countries and regions around the world. INCO is active on five continents and currently lends support to more than 500 collaborative research projects and S&T agreements with a number of countries interested in coordinating research policies.
SPEAR aims to
develop and test an integrated framework for interpreting coastal zone
structure and dynamics, in areas where communities primarily depend on marine
resources. This framework accounts for watershed interactions, ecological
structure and human activities. Our interdisciplinary approach combines natural
and social sciences, and addresses the complex scaling issues inherent in
integrated management.
Two
contrasting systems in China will be studied: Sanggou Bay, part of a rural
watershed, and Huangdun Bay, located in an industrialized area south of
Shanghai. In both systems, large-scale cultivation of seaweeds, shellfish and
finfish are of paramount importance for community income and livelihood.
Research
and development will use existing local and regional datasets, ongoing Chinese
field programs, archived and contemporary satellite imagery, with limited
additional field and experimental measurements. Complementary workpackages will
establish the interactions between catchment use and coastal zone. Work will
focus on fluxes of nutrients, organic matter and sediments, including exchanges
at the seaward boundary and the role of ecological processes. Component models
will describe the interactions both between cultivated species and with their
environments, taking into account different levels of human interaction (e.g.
resource exploitation, basin water management practices, and sewage discharge).
Integrated modelling will permit the dynamic coupling of economic drivers
responsible for social issues (over-exploitation, usage conflicts) with our
ecological models, resolving inter-relations with the natural system. This will
allow realistic testing of 3 contrasting management scenarios. Particular
emphasis will be placed on how integrated multi-species aquaculture
(=polyculture) may be used to restore and optimize sustainability by
internalizing environmental costs.
 Datasets and
research models will be used to conceptualise, parameterise and test screening
models, which distil the knowledge obtained from the integrated system analysis
into simple and practical diagnostic management tools. Model validation and
technology transfer will be ensured through stakeholder involvement in project
management, including experimental manipulation at culture unit test sites
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