Contribution of environmental indices in meeting the objectives and principles of the Marine Strategy Framework directive (MSFD)

The summer school on ‘The contribution of environmental indices in meeting the objectives and principles of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive’ was organised in Constanta, Romania, during 3th and the 7th of June 2013, within the framework of Work Package 8 (WP8) of the PERSEUS Project (Policy-oriented marine Environmental Research for the Southern European Seas). The main focus was to create training opportunities which would strengthen the existing research and technological development network in the Mediterranean and Black seas in principles such as ecosystem modelling, monitoring and environmental assessment. The school targeted the need that both the EU and non-EU states should adopt a common framework and regional approach with regards to environmental policy development, common monitoring practices and the use of common assessment tools. The main objectives of the PERSEUS Summer School on the contribution of environmental indices in meeting the objectives and principles of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) were the: (i) to expose participants to aspects of the theoretical and practical background on the assessment of the benthic ecological status using the index M-AMBI (multivariate AMBI – AZTI Marine Biotic Index) and Marine Strategy Framework Directive assessment issues; (ii) to provide participants with the most important concepts related to the fishery related indices; (iii) to get participants acquainted with the main applications of ocean color based index/eutrophicationrelated core set indicators CSI023 (chlorophyll-a); (iv) to present theoretical and practical aspects of characterisation of the ecological state of marine and coastal waters using Trophic index (TRIX); (v) to establish links between different researchers involved in the field of environmental indicators related with the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. 20 students from various Black sea and Mediterranean countries and with different backgrounds completed the school successfully, blending a thorough lecture programme with social interaction and exchange of ideas.