| Concepción, Bellavista Club, Chile, September 4th – 8th 2006
At the end of the second year of its duration, the CENSOR INCO-project (“Climate variability and El Niño Southern Oscillation: Implications for Natural Coastal Resources and Management”) held its Midterm Symposium in Concepción, Chile, in early September 2006. CENSOR has brought together a multi-disciplinary group of scientists, many of which have long lasting experience in local or bilateral international cooperation and in a great variety of ENSO aspects, and are now working more closely together under this multi-disciplinary “umbrella project” (www.censor.name). The aim of this Symposium was to set a milestone and also a review point in our activities. It particularly aimed to be a milestone for the students and young researchers within the project in order to prepare them to conquer the international scientific platform in the best way possible. It is because of this forthcoming generation of marine and coastal scientists why joint international projects are of such importance as a breeding ground for new and broad-minded thoughts of future promise.
By joining CENSOR with the INCO-SSA project PASARELAS, the combined consortium complemented an important conceptual approach, with focus on the economic and societal needs related to the Pacific coast off South America under direct ENSO influence. The aim was to develop a consensus statement from all parties involved on the socio-economic management needs related to ENSO, which is currently under preparation. Although controversial points do always remain when dealing with a multi-dimensional topic such as coastal management, the outcome of this workshop is expected useful to help directing future scientific research and policy making in the area, including management advice.
The CENSOR-PASARELAS Symposium & Workshop was co-organized by COPAS, Chile, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Germany, and the National Oceanography Centre, UK. On behalf of the Organizing Committee and the project participants, I would like to particularly express my gratitude to the European Commission, CONICYT, the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD, and the SECYT for making this multidisciplinary ENSO project possible.
Finally, the outcome of the Symposium will be made available in a planned special Volume of the ISI journal Helgoland Marine Research and publications in other scientific sources. I would like to encourage the visitor of this web page to monitor this dissemination process online in the course of the next year.
Sven Thatje
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
October 2006
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