CZCP Workshops

Goal and Objectives of the Series of Regional Workshops

GEOSS Support for Decision-Making in the Coastal Zone: Managing and Mitigating the Impacts of Human Activities and Natural Hazards in the Coastal Zone

A series of (regional) GEO Workshops organized by the GEO Coastal Zone Community of Practice

Goals and Objectives: Under the auspices of the Group on Earth Observation (GEO), and with a primary focus on the needs of developing nations, the GEO CZCP is conducting this series of regional workshops to provide an end-to-end forum for data providers and users to identify observing system requirements (from observations to modeling) and decision-making tools needed to manage and mitigate the impacts of coastal inundation, storm surge and human activities on coastal communities and ecosystems. As a step toward achieving these goals, this series of workshops aims to:

• Foster communication between land-oriented and sea-oriented communities of scientists, environmental managers, policy makers and other users. Historically, observation efforts within the marine aquatic and terrestrial spheres have been largely separate. A major goal of the CZCP is to aid in establishing an integration of these efforts. A key intent of each regional workshop is to bring together scientists and practitioners from across the region to build synergy and linkages to further strengthen existing programs and initiate new partnerships to enhance coastal zone research capacity and coastal resource management.
• Specify data and information requirements of the Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) community, including the first responder and mitigation communities, the regulatory community, longer-term planners, policy makers, researchers and educators. ICAM user interests represent a spectrum of scales from local to global with information needs from near-real time to multi-decadal.
• Discuss and prioritize data and information gaps. Identify the challenges to filling these gaps, as well as the emerging decision-making approaches and model-based solutions.
• Facilitate linkage of space-based observations, and land and ocean in-situ measurements and models with sustained programs that will provide data and information needed to:
  • Assess changes in susceptibility (risk and resilience) to coastal inundation and storm surge in high risk regions;
  • Assess changes in susceptibility (risk and resilience) to coastal erosion; and
  • Assess and forecast impacts on human health risks, the state of coastal ecosystems and the living resources they support.
• Initiate planning for Coastal Data Assimilation System (CODAS) pilot projects and corresponding Integrated Coastal Decision Support Systems (ICoDSS) for data acquisition, analysis, modeling and integration to support improved decision-making across the land-sea interface in two or more target regions. A key goal of this planning process will be to strengthen the institutional capacities of developing countries and to promote international joint observation and research, through improved surface-based monitoring and increased use of satellite data, and the creation and dissemination of technical and scientific knowledge.
• Promote the end-to-end goals of coastal observing systems by fostering improved linkages between data providers and end-users, and facilitating the transition from data to products to information to knowledge.