The INTERREG IV B co-funded IMCORE project has just completed its first year of activities. It aims to promote an innovative and sustainable approach to reduce the ecological, social and economic impacts of climate change on the coastal resources of NW Europe. This approach is based on the association between a research group and a local authority, working together and bringing in multidisciplinary views and experiences to achieve more integrated solutions to local management. These partnerships were named Expert Couplet Nodes (ECN) during the previous project COREPOINT and are being further formalised and developed during IMCORE.

Each of the nine ECNs established in coastal areas of the UK, Ireland, Belgium and France are addressing particular local issues and developing strategies to adapt to climate change at a local scale but at the same time are designing and testing various tools and techniques. These include stakeholder mapping and future scenarios of potential climate change impacts, whose value can then be shown and made available to other local and regional authorities.

As a partner in the project, EUCC is assessing the engagement and process within the ECNs, defining guidelines and recommendations on this approach and collaborate in the development of a set of indicators to monitor their process. These will be one of the project products integrating the Multimedia Distance Learning Tool – the final output of IMCORE - a comprehensive resource of information and tools designed to help coastal managers planning for climate change impacts in their coastal areas.

For more information, please contact info@imcore.eu or visit www.imcore.eu