International workshop – discussion on shoreline and prevention of the coastal erosion of the Adriatic, Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea was held in the Varna Governors office on 31st of August, 2017. The international meeting was organized within the framework of the newly-launched project “HERMES – A HarmonizEd fRamework to Mitigate coastal EroSion promoting ICZM protocol implementation“, co-funded by the Balkan-Mediterranean Program. The aim of the workshop was to introduce HERMES project to local stakeholders, to increase knowledge about coastal erosion mitigation and to initiate networking.

The workshop was officially opened by the Regional Governor of Varna – Mr. Stoyan Pasev and the Chairman of the Board of the Union of Bulgarian Black Sea Local Authorities (UBBSLA) – Mr. Atanas Stoilov.

In Bulgaria, the project is implemented by UBBSLA with the support of the Regional Administration – Varna and in partnership with the Municipality of Paggaio (GR), which is the leading organization of the project, Democritus University of Thrace (GR), ORION Joint Research Center (CY), TEULEDA, Local Development Agency (AL) and the Institute for Environmental Policy (AL). Its expected duration is 24 months (August 2017-August 2019) and the total budget exceeds 1,000,000 euros.

“The topic of Integrated Coastal Zone Management is one of the main priorities in the activities of our Black Sea municipalities and the Association as a whole in the last few years,” said Mr. Stoilov at the opening of the international event. “Fourteen of the 21 of our Black Sea municipalities are located at sea and the coastline is of direct concern to them. The extreme importance of the problem of coastal management categorically implies the united efforts of all the municipalities of the Black Sea coast “, concluded Mr. Stoilov.

HERMES workshop on coastal erosion in Varna was attended by more than 40 representatives of the member municipalities of UBBSLA, project partners from Greece, Cyprus and Albania, representatives of the Institute of Oceanology, Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Waters – Varna and other experts in the area of shore and erosion control. Within the framework of the open workshop, an authoritative review of ICZM legislative framework in Bulgaria and the implemented project on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast were presented, as well the technical solutions developed in the framework of projects for prevention of coastal erosion.

HERMES is a common initiative of six entities, supported by the European Union through the Balkan Med Program, covering over 280km of coastline in the Adriatic, the Aegean, the Levantine and the Black Sea designed to help local communities come up with concrete and viable solutions. It aims to develop a unified and harmonized framework for coastal erosion mitigation and beach restoration through the implementation of a coherent ensemble of studies, the sharing of already developed technical tools and the design of joint policy instruments.

Under the project, special stations for monitoring wind and current waves will be purchased and installed in each partner’s country and various mitigation measures to reduce erosion will be tested, focusing on “soft” engineering techniques (dune stabilization, nourishment, geosystems, etc.). On the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, pilot test sites will be around cape Galata, Burgas beach, Pomorie beach, Byala and Kranevo.

HERMES project partners from Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and Cyprus