NOOA’s Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) program has had its 2nd biennial meeting this week in Boulder, Colorado.

The 40+ participants have shared achievements and experiences across ecosystems ranging from the Pacific Islands to the Northeast. Use of models, risk assessments, communication, indicators and reference points have all been on the table, but the most important overarching theme has been to discuss if and how methods should be coordinated across regions.

Seeing and hearing how varied IEA is implemented across the US - each region has its own take on the concept - has been enlightening. The contrast to the prescriptive european situation is stark where governments / EU will define what IEA is before starting a process. The US process is more bottom-up than the European.

I held a presentation on the development of the Norwegian Integrated Management plans (Norway’s take on MSP & EBM), future challenges, tools on the horizon and under development as well as possible areas for collaboration.

Web Resources

Sealevel rise mapping tool:

Monthly Data Series OceanView