Announcement of the HERMES International Conference

Announcement of the HERMES International Conference on

“Adapting to Coastal Zone Challenges and Risks:

Innovative Approaches and Solutions for Local and Regional Authorities in the Balkan-Mediterranean area”

organized by the Municipality of Paggaio and the HERMES project partnership,

with the participation of DMPCO

Eleftheroupolis (Frixos Papachristidis Amphitheatre), 23-24 April 2020

Coastal zones across the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean are facing ever-increasing natural and anthropogenic disturbances, including the occurrence of extreme events in the form of intense and more frequent storms, sea level rise, coastal erosion and over-exploitation of their resources among others. Such challenges raise serious concerns for coastal Local and Regional Authorities, as they are associated to socio-economic impacts, economic losses and ecological damages, especially of valuable coastal habitats and environmental degradation.

HERMES aims to develop a unified and harmonized framework for coastal erosion mitigation and beach restoration covering the four partner countries (Albania, Cyprus, Greece and Bulgaria) through the implementation of a coherent ensemble of studies, the sharing of already developed technical tools and the design of joint policy instruments. This is imperative since available evidence indicate that erosion is a problem for almost 30% of the coasts in Greece, 38% in Cyprus while in Bulgaria it reaches almost 71% ; in Albania shoreline erosion is particularly acute in the  central and northern part of its  420 km long coast. In parallel, in Eastern Mediterranean recent scenarios predict a sea level rise up to 1 m until the end of current century.

In this context, the HERMES International Conference will address issues related to:

·         Coastal erosion: Current state, trends and perspectives   

·         Policies and Tools supporting the adaptation and resilience of Coastal Municipalities to Coastal Erosion and Sea Level Rise

·         ICZM Protocol Implementation by Municipal and Regional Authorities

·         Scientific Tools to Monitor Coastal Zone Processes

·         Engineering Solutions Tackling Coastal Zone Challenges

·         Touristic Development under Coastal Erosion and Climate Change Risks

·         Financial Instruments related to Coastal Zone Management

Working language: English.

Please submit your abstract at hermes.bmp@gmail.com using the instructions given at the attached template until 25 March 2020.

01_International Workshop Announcement