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Coastal Practice Network (CoPraNet)
Coastal Practice Network
(CoPraNet)
Start date: Dec 31, 2003,
End date: Dec 30, 2006
PROJECT
FINISHED
Quality enhancement and sustainability are key objectives for tourism development in coastal areas. This means that a sectoral approach to coastal development, including tourism, beach management, erosion and nature conservation, is no longer sufficient. In Europe, many coastal regions are working towards an integrated, multi-sectoral planning approach (Integrated Coastal Zone Management) for sustainable economic growth. As a result, the conservation of coastal and marine natural resources are included as a fundamental part of a coastal regional development programme. However, the results of these efforts are not always communicated between regions due to a lack of effective information exchange. CoPraNet has two primary objectives. The first objective is to develop a network of coastal stakeholders to exchange information and examples of best practice in order to support local and regional efforts for an integrated planning of coastal areas. Secondly, the operation aims to support interregional exchanges of best practice information on the subjects of sustainable tourism as well as coastal erosion and beach management through an integrated approach. Achievements: Achievements so far CoPraNet activities continued to develop according to the plan.The project has been widely presented and become well known throughout the coastal stakeholders community in the EU. The project officially began with a kick-off meeting in March 2004 with all the partners present. In this period, an electronic communication platform was set up so that all the partners could freely communicate with each other as well as upload and download important files. The Email based helpdesk was established. Priority was given to setting up the project website and this can now be visited at www.coastalpractice.net. A newsletter was produced and this was translated into nine of the project languages. A logo was chosen by the partners after a competition amongst them. Two Annual Conferences have been held: in Aberdeen entitled 'Delivering sustainable coasts: Connecting science and policy' in September 2004 (Scotland) with over 400 delegates from around Europe, and in Tavira (Portugal) entitled ICCCM'05 'International Conference on Coastal Conservation and Management in the Atlantic and Mediterranean' with over 200 delegates from around Europe, Latin America and United States. Eleven workshops have been held, in 2004, two were held in Down (N. Ireland) and Sefton (NW England), and in 2005, six were held in Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain), Zandvoort ( Netherlands), Sifnos (Greece), Sefton (UK), Stepnica (Poland) and Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). In 2006,three workshops have been held in Cork (Ireland) entitled 'Addressing Public Perception of Changing Coasts for improved ICZM'; on Samothraki Island (Greece) entitled 'The role of NGOs and Local Authorities in Planning Sustainable Tourism Development'; and on Somme Bay (France) entitled 'European and French Shorelines - What governance for Practitioners?' the final workshop and event of the project. Four final national end forums took place in Athens (Greece), Gran Canaria (Spain), Coimbra (Portugal) and Karrebæksminde (Denmark).From a content point of view, the 2 Annual Conferences and the 11 specific workshops provided examples of best practice which fed into the main outputs of the project. During the final inter-regional workshop event participants joined to discuss and share their overall experiences and best practices in the fields of governance dealing with coastal erosion management, as well as sustainable tourism development and the role of local authorities in this process.All contributed to the development of the project goals which are to develop an international Quality Label (QualityCoast) for tourism destinations and a multilingual guide for beach management. The project website continued to be developed. The final project report was published and widely distributed.This has been translated and disseminated in Swedish,Dutch,Portuguese,Spanish,Greek, German and French. A broadcast quality film (22m) has been produced and disseminated through the project partners.