Spatial Data Interest Community

Geo-Information Community in Coastal LANdscape - GI-CLAN

GI-CLAN is a volunteer community of organisations operating in the field of GI and coastal management.

It has been constituted following the call addressed within the EU initiative INSPIRE to any organisation or network which has an interest in the spatial information themes and services, referred to in the INSPIRE proposal for a Directive COM (2004) 516.
According to this call, they can propose to organise or be part of a community with interests in spatial data for particular uses (SDIC), they can register as a legally mandated organisation (LMO), they can propose experts to participate in Drafting Teams working on the preparation of the detailed implementing rules of INSPIRE or they can propose pilot projects to feed or test INSPIRE implementing rules.

GI-CLAN application domain is coastal zone management, with particular regard to coastal landscape, meant as the contact point between the natural and human features of a coastal area, and subject to a continuous pressure. Since these two groups of issues have to be considered jointly, the data and the outcomes related with each involved sector should be as interoperable as possible.

GI-CLAN main aim is to create opportunities to discuss and share knowledge, expertise, needs, methodologies in the field of Geographical Information for the sustainable management of the coastal areas and of their resources.

In particular, it focuses on two broad issues:

• to improve the access and the sharing by coastal planners and stakeholders to the geographical information required for the elaboration and the implementation of management programmes, oriented to the ICAM principles and criteria, through the harmonisation of the data from the different involved fields
• to enhance the scientific value of coastal landscape analysis and planning, by easing the access to good quality data about the natural and human features that, as also pointed out by the European Landscape Convention, characterise the landscape itself.

Since the heterogeneity of European coasts, this SDIC chooses to focus on the Mediterranean basin, especially as regards use cases and prototype implementation as test region. This choice, due the plenty of natural and cultural heritage and the high human pressure along the coast, allows to tune methods and tools for other regional applications. Moreover, it is possible to rely on several studies, guide lines, and other management support materials, already available thanks to the work of many international organisations (i.e. UNEP/MAP, Blue Plan, etc.). From this point of view, this SDIC is indeed a good opportunity to start a harmonisation process between EC policies and UNEP, or other international organisations policies, which in the future, could be transferred also to other coastal regions.

One essential element for the achieving of the GI-CLAN objective is to efficiently get together the different stakeholders, on one hand improving communication and co-operation among the scientists and planners involved in the elaboration and implementation of the programme, on the other hand, increasing the awareness of local communities, in order to encourage a proactive participation to management. This twofold action is especially relevant in the field of coastal landscape, meeting point of the natural and human features of a territory, but also an economic resource.

Presently it is quite uncommon that one organisation is able to collect inside its structures all the required skills, as well as it is authoritative enough to propose as covering the entire workflow of GI in coastal management. GI-CLAN takes the opportunity to set up an actually multidisciplinary team to operate within a harmonising initiative, able to deal with environmental issues in such a comprehensive way.

On this basis, GI-CLAN main activities will include:

1. Forum and discussion: to put together coastal stakeholders and GI experts in order to better understand the GI requirements for an operational approach to integrated coastal management; to better relate the GI scientific context with the academic research world working in the field of coast and landscape for its diverse physical and human aspects. GI-CLAN can rely on tools either to ensure the visibility of the initiative, or to convene workshops and technical meetings to facilitate the participation of the involved people and collect inputs.
   
2. Scientific assessment and training: to contribute, through the drafting and the diffusion via traditional means and web of tutorial material and best practices, to the elaboration and the dissemination of a GIS based approach. In particular, attention will be paid to the use of GI in learning methodologies and educational programmes in integrated coastal management, in methods and techniques. The aim is to match research results with policy makers needs and to start special educational programmes for planners, as well as to support innovative enterprises able to apply integration of GI and GIS into coastal management and natural risk mitigation.
3. Implementation: to implement GIS pilot projects for the inclusion of coastal landscape within ICAM programmes. Specific projects for the target community will be started to favour inside public Administration a special consideration to INSPIRE principles.
   
4. INSPIRE test-bedding: to assess, through the exploitation of pilot projects, the applicability of the INSPIRE principles to the available coastal Geographical Information. Such projects could be used as test cases or best practices in order to tune up the Implementing Rules for coastal issues.

The target of these activities changes according with the specific issues dealt in each of them, from single local communities, up to governmental organisms. Anyway, the variety and the high quality level of the partner organisations, is a warrantee that most of the different issues that concur in coastal management are properly covered. The skills, experience and methodologies of each partner are shared in the Mediterranean basin test case, in order to tune up efficient tools able to be exported to other coastal areas processes. In this framework, the link with INSPIRE and the collaboration with the INSPIRE Drafting Teams is biunique and quite close: on the one hand, the data harmonisation makes possible to compare methodologies and processes, on the other hand, the sharing of the partners’ experiences allows a better definition of the requirements necessary to get spatial information actually shareable and usable at its best.

Another important field of GI-CLAN activity is education, finalised to train experts able to employ the different features of geographical information in a cross-cutting, multidisciplinary approach to coastal area management. Also in this case, harmonisation plays an essential role, because it stands at the basis of the co-operation among different education and research areas.

The activity of the SDIC is supported by two well launched initiatives where some of its partners are present:

1. ECO-IMAGINE, that could enhance its visibility through the foreseen conferences and training courses on GI and Integrated Coastal Management and a dedicate web site;
2. Oceans 21 (http://www.iccops.it/oceans21), whose activity, focused on the Mediterranean, aims to explore the innovative uses of GI for coastal Management. Oceans 21, moreover, is an important contact point with relevant International Organisations (i. e IOC and UGI). These initiatives already running are a further guarantee for the continuity of action of the SDIC and the possibility of enlargement and continue renewal of the community work.

If you wish some more information about the SDIC or you are interested in joining GI-CLAN, please contact us!

Contact Person: Emanuele Roccatagliata
Organisation: GISIG – Geographical Information Systems International Group
Address: Via Piacenza 54, 16138 Genova, Italy
e-mail: gisig@gisig.it
tel : +39 010 8355588
fax: +39 010 8357190