Environmental Impacts Know No Boundaries A Marine Environmental Workshop for Graduate Students from Mediterranean Nations La Spezia, June 5-17, 2011 Background: The Mediterranean Sea has been invaluable in shaping the economic, technological and cultural development of the nations surrounding it. However, the increasing rates of local (e.g. pollution) as well as global (e.g. ocean warming and acidification) changes have influenced its biota such that entire marine ecosystems are threatened. By their nature, these impacts are not local, and it is therefore self-evident that scientific cooperation between nations is imperative in order to research, monitor and manage the Mediterranean Sea so as to preserve its health and/or restore its positive functions for the future. One way of promoting regional research efforts that can lead to the maintenance of a healthy Mediterranean Sea is to establish cooperation between universities and research organisations from the nations surrounding it. Our programme brings together young scientists from many nationalities in a joint venture to exchange views regarding research and management goals, and to learn means with which to jointly reach those goals. For this, we invite graduate students in any disciplines of marine research (physical or chemical oceanography, marine biology, and coastal/marine management) from nations neighbouring the Mediterranean Sea for a 2-week workshop to be hosted by ENEA Marine Environment Research Centre (www.santateresa.enea.it), La Spezia, Italy, and sponsored by the environmental organisations EcoOcean (www.ecoocean.org) and Environmental Ocean Team (www.ocean-team.org). • The main Objective of the workshop is to create cooperation in marine research and management be- tween nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea through an integrative lecture, demonstration and hands-on learning experience graduate-level workshop. • A secondary objective is to use the workshop as a platform for generating public awareness of the range of environmental threats to the Mediterranean coastal and oceanic ecosystems and their complexities, and the international cooperation required to effectively address them. Venue and Format: The 2-week workshop will be held at ENEA, La Spezia, Italy, on June 5-17, 2011. The students will be from the Mediterranean nations Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, The Palestinian Authority, Malta, Algeria and Italy, and the ca. 20 teachers and instructors will be mainly from the staff of ENEA and CNR, La Spezia. • The 1st week will be devoted to lectures, demonstrations and field trips in the areas of chemical and physical oceanography, including geology, of the Mediterranean Sea in general and the Ligurian Sea specifi- cally, the biology of those seas, human utilisations and impacts and management (including an excursion to the Cinque Terre Natl. Park). The students will discuss what was learned, and will on day 6 prepare for the work at sea. Comune di Monterosso al Mare Comune di Lerici Comune di La Spezia Comune di Ameglia • In the 2nd week, 3 hands-on research projects will be carried out on board 2 boats (groups of students will alternate for 3 days on each vessel): (June 12-17): Marine Field Work. The students will work in 2 groups that alternate between the 2 research boats, each for 3 days, as follows: Project 1-2 (aboard the R/V Mediterranean Explorer): Environmental and biological oceanography; CTD profiles (including irradiance and chlorophyll fluorescence), turbulence and plankton collection along a gradient from shallow to deep waters off the Ligurian coast. Projects 3 (aboard the S/V Adriatica): Hydrophone measurements and mammal detection in the Ligurian Sea and Tuscany Archipelago (Cetacean Sanctuary) . At the end of this venture, the students will write reports, and also present their findings at the La Spezia Marine Festival (to be held June 18-19). Course Coordinators: Ilana Berman-Frank, Bar Ilan University ([email protected]) Paola Picco, ENEA, La Spezia ([email protected]) Course Mediator: Sven Beer, Tel Aviv University ([email protected]) EcoOcean Director: Daniel Shaffer ([email protected]) Environmental Ocean-Team Director: Emilio Tesi ([email protected]) Scientists who have agreed to participate on a voluntary basis include: Drs. Ilana Berman-Frank and Paola Picco (coordinators), Prof. Sven Beer (mediator), Drs. Marinella Abbate, John Allen, Mattia Barsanti, Paolo Cipollini, Luca Cocchi, Silvia Cocito, Roberta Cupido, Ivana Delbono, Roberta Delfanti, Annalisa Griffa, Chiara Lombardi, Giuseppe Manzella, Roberto Meloni, Andrea Peirano, Valentina Sgherri, Mirko Stifani, Anna Vetrano, Stefano Vignudelli, and Prof. Gianni Pavan. Comune di Monterosso al Mare Comune di Lerici Comune di La Spezia Comune di Ameglia.