Chair of the scientific committee: Prof Michel Vigneaux
Director of the centre: Dr Françoise Pautrizel
Permanent staff of the centre: Dr Gael Arnaud, Dr Iker Castège
CerCo is a specialised centre of the Council of Europe’s EUR-OPA Open Partial Agreement.
OBJECTIFS
The European Centre on Coastal Risks is a non-profit-making organisation. Its objectives are to provide education and training and to carry out research into coastal hazards and the ensuing risks to the coastline.
MAIN ACTIVITIES
a. Training
Specialised training courses: "Knowledge and management of coastal risks"
Previous courses: 12-15 October 2009, 22-26 November 2010
Courses designed for local and regional authority staff and postgraduate students
Chemical and biological risks: pollution of marine and terrestrial origin (drainage basins)
Information about management and decision-making tools
This training is attended by coastline stakeholders and researchers and is intended to promote exchanges between users and producers of decision-making methods and tools.
Participation in the "Coastal hazard assessment and risk management" course run by the CERG European Centre (19-25 June 2011)
b. Research
The "Vulner'hab" project
Research programme, run in co-operation with the AZTI-Tecnalia foundation (Spanish Basque country), assessing loss of habitats when sea levels rise at a "pilot" site, Txingudi Bay.
c. Other activities
Organisation of an international symposium on coastal risks:
"Vulnerability of coastal ecosystems to global change and extreme events"
The research described at this symposium will be considered from three angles, giving an interdisciplinary approach:
Physical
Biological
Chemical
The symposium will be accompanied by a professional exhibition of innovative coastal risk assessment and prevention techniques.
