Integrated Aquatic Resources Management between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland (IBIS)
Adams, Bailey, Nager, Metcalfe
The three project partners (The Loughs Agency, of the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission; the Scottish Centre for Ecology and the Natural Environment, University of Glasgow; Queen's University Belfast - Centre for Marine Research and Mariculture) will meet a pressing need for an integrated approach to resource management. They will develop a consensus on the most pressing aquatic research needs for the programme area through an inclusive IBIS Project Advisory Committee drawing together the relevant government agencies, NGOs, charities and academic institutions to identify research needs.
The project will then execute a programme of freshwater and marine scientific research through a PhD programme and MRes programme jointly supervised by leading experts from the three jurisdictions, that will also deliver high level, high quality training for future aquatic resource management practitioners through the delivery of the PhD and Masters programme. Knowledge Transfer workshops will raise awareness and exchange information among stakeholders. Public awareness of aquatic ecosystem management issues will be raised through the dissemination of project outputs (research articles in the science literature and information on project website). World class research and training facilities to provide the infrastructure to support the delivery of the project and aquatic resource management in the future will be developed at SCENE.
The project will implement a consultation, dissemination and communications programme with policy makers, end-users, other users of fresh water and marine resources in the eligible area and in the wider European context to provide the foundations for future cross-sectoral collaboration through the establishment of cross border stakeholder groups.