HERMES 3rd Open Workshop in Tirana
The deployment of two out of the four Oceanographic Stations(OS) and the production of word class reports highlighting the need to adopt modern, environmentally friendly approaches in order to understand and counter costal erosion processes in the Balkan Mediterranean Program area has led to a wide recognition of the work being carried out by the HERMES project partnership.
The two OS have been deployed in Paggaio Municipality (Greece) and in Varna (Bulgaria).
Another two expected to be deployed very soon, on the Albanian coast near Shkondra and in Larnaca (Cyprus).
“HERMES is actually building a transnational network” says the Project Scientific Coordinator, Prof. Georgios Sylaios (Democritus University of Thrace) “ that is capable to collect oceanographic data and transmit them on a real-time basis to all interested users”.
These users can range from local authorities, to fishermen, industry, hotel owners and professionals who work at the sea or / and the coast and need the information to improve their performances .
In effect, increasing the capacity to monitor and measure the parameters which determine the coastal erosion process at local scale has a multi-fold and strongly positive impact at various levels and in many diverse sectors of activities.
“The completion of the HERMES project” points out Philippos Anastasiadis, Mayor of Paggaio “ will enable us to start a set of integrated interventions which will allow to make investments to preserve the coastline which is the most important asset we have and create employment for our people. This could not have been done without cooperation, both at local and international scale”.
How to take care of the environment while harnessing sustainable place-based development is in simple terms the main topic of the Open Workshop that HEMES will hold this coming Wednesday (3 July) at the premises of the Institute of GeoSciences, Energy, Water and Environment, one its local Partners.
The workshop is expected to be attended by over 50 people representing a wide array of key national actors and the International donor community, with a strong representation of the Shkodra region, headed by the TEULEDA Development Agency, which is the other partner of the project in Albania and the co-host of the Open Workshop.
HERMES in brief.
“HERMES – A HarmonizEd fRamework to Mitigate coastal EroSion promoting ICZM protocol implementation” is a project co-financed by the Balkan Med Program. Led by the Municipality of Paggaio (GR), it counts as Partners 1)Democritus University of Thrace (GR), 2)ORION Joint Research Center (CY), 3)Union of Bulgarian Black Sea Local Authorities (BG), 4)TEULEDA, Local Development Agency (AL) and 5)the Institute of GeoSciences, Energy, Water and Environment (AL). It will be completed in May 2020 and the total budget exceeds 1,000,000 euros.