BSSC2017 Session Topics
Session 4 (S4) Coastal seas and society
The Baltic Sea is knowingly under severe anthropogenic pressures. The environmental impacts stemming from human activities at sea, in the coastal areas or the catchment make the Baltic Sea a globally significant showcase of environmental management, exemplifying the difficulties in balancing utilization and protection of marine resources. In this broadly defined session, we aim to combine contributions covering all aspects of the interaction between society and the coastal sea, for example:
- Anthropogenic uses and interventions in coastal and marine systems such as off-shore engineering, tourism, energy production, extraction of minerals, maritime transport, and aquaculture;
- Studies on “hazardous” events, e.g., toxic algae blooms, naval accidents, extreme weather, flooding;
- Studies on state and impact of coastal and maritime planning, e.g. engineering, wind parks, resource extractions, fishery, transportation, and their cumulative effects on the ecosystem;
- Studies on contaminants, pollutants, microplastics, including the development of analysis methods for new substances, and studies on the interaction between chemicals, microplastics, and the food chain. Investigations on temporal trends and regional differences are also welcome;
- Implementation of marine and coastal policies: MSFD descriptors and indicators as well as development and evaluation of new indicators that can better help us to understand, monitor and assess the environmental status;