The many benefits of ecosystems and wise marine management in the East Atlantic Flyway top the agenda of the workshop, bringing together Norwegian, European and African science and policy experts to share knowledge, experiences and forward-looking ideas. The workshop will focus on the preparation of the State of the Marine Environment Report for the proposed Raet National Park in Southern Norway.

The first part of the workshop is designed to assess the environmental status of the proposed Raet National Park using an “expert elicitation methodology” that involves consultation with national and local experts to gauge expert opinion about the condition of the marine and coastal ecosystems and dependent socio-economic sectors. There are commonly local datasets, and there are many local studies and short-term datasets about various aspects of marine ecosystems, but these have often a too coarse resolution and are not part of a systematic collection of data and knowledge routinely synthesized for reporting purposes. The expert elicitation process draws upon these disparate datasets and the knowledge base dispersed across a range of sources and institutions to capture a representative sample of existing expert knowledge about the condition of the environment in a manner that can be used for reporting purposes.

The second part of the workshop will involve presentations by marine experts on relevant environmental issues and on marine ecosystem assessment relating to the East Atlantic Flyway. Speakers will include: Thomas Kiland-Langeland, Aust Agder County Governor; Abou Bamba, Regional Coordinator, Abidjan Convention Secretariat; Jens Enemark, Director General, International Wadden Sea Secretariat; Andrew St Joseph, Farmer and Coastal Conservation Expert Essex, UK; Øystein Djupedal, County Governor of Aust- Agder; Dag Olav Andersen, Head of Natural Sciences Department, University of Agder; Peter Prokosch, Managing Director, GRID-Arendal; and Peter Harris, Senior Marine Science Advisor, Geoscience Australia, and incoming Managing Director, GRID-Arendal.

The workshop will include a boat trip to the proposed Raet National Park and a social event at the Store Torungen Lighthouse.