Fundacion CETMAR in Vigo, 30th of June of 2016. The purpose of this meeting was to assess and validate, from an end-user perspective, the validity and utility of the tool NEAT (Nested Environmental Status Assessment Tool) in different contexts of marine EIA studies.
CETMAR are the Node Leader and Knowledge Fellow for the COLUMBUS Marine Governance and Management Node, where sustainable implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, as well as other marine related policies, is the main focus. The NEAT software was developed through the FP7-Oceans of Tomorrow Project DEVOTES. This Knowledge Output was identified by CETMAR through the application of the COLUMBUS Knowledge Transfer methodology as one of the knowledge outputs from the DEVOTES project with a clear potential impact if transferred correctly to identified end-users.
In its first 18 months, COLUMBUS has already established a “Knowledge Fellowship”, a network of nine full-time Knowledge Transfer Fellows whose role it is to carry out Knowledge Transfer, each with a specific focus area, including as above Marine Governance and Management. Trained in the COLUMBUS Knowledge Transfer methodology, developed by AquaTT, this remote team has identified knowledge gaps relating to Blue Growth within their nodal areas and is proactively collecting knowledge from EU-funded research projects which have the potential to fulfil, or contribute towards filling, these gaps.
During the workshop, all participants made numerous and valuable contributions for the improvement of the tool in the future, and CETMAR will continue working with DEVOTES to ensure the Knowledge Output is transferred and applied as quickly as possible, ensuring it achieves maximum potential.
If you would like to know more about the COLUMBUS project or would like to receive regular updates on its progress, please contact the Project Manager, Cliona Ní Cheallacháin (email: cliona@aquatt.ie or tel: +353 (0) 1 644 9008).
The attendees of the 1st COLUMBUS Knowledge Transfer workshop on the NEAT software, Vigo, Spain
