GSC5505 - Marine Environmental Management

Course Title

MQF Level

Duration and Credits

Semester 1

5 ECTS

Mode of Study

Part-Time Day

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Please check your eligibility to join this short course and time-tabling details with the Faculty of Science. The short course will only be delivered subject to a minimum number of applications being received.

This study-unit will explore the concept and implementation of ecosystem-based natural resource management in the sea through the use of marine spatial planning. It will cater for the complex linkages between multiple processes and factors at different scales and application, focusing on the support to decision making, conflict management and environmental management. A number of natural hazards will be discussed, such as earthquake, tsunami, flooding, hurricanes, storm surges, etc, as well as hazards associated with climate change, such as coastal impact of sea level rise, ocean acidification, harmful algal blooms and precipitation runoff etc.

The study-unit will rely heavily on the discussion of a number of case studies. Particularly, this study-unit includes a dedicated Boat site visit to Marsamxett and the Grand Harbour to assess MSP-related challenges within Malta's ports.

This study-unit will include the origin, formation and consequences of geohazards, meteorological hazards and environmental hazards, including:

tsunamis: formation, tsunami modelling, tsunami warning systems, community awareness and response, tsunami risk maps;
hurricanes and storm surges: formation and evolution; risk on society by extreme winds and sea;
environmental/anthropogenic and climate change derived hazards, including:
- sea-level rise and its impact on coastal communities;
- the human engineering response to projected sea level rise resulting in the 鈥榗oastal squeeze鈥� of habitats and species of conservation importance; ocean acidification and its consequences on food security and marine ecosystems;
- link to increased fossil fuel combustion;
- desertification, dust and sand storms and their impact on terrestrial and marine environments;
- anomalous Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) and toxic Invasive Alien Species (IAS): their relationship to increasing maritime merchandise transportation in a globalised economy, ballast water discharge, transportation routes; effects on human mortalities and morbidity;
- runoff of fertilisers in coastal embayments and to the increasing incidence of eutrophication events; links to agricultural practices;
- international frameworks and reports, eg UN Sendai framework for Disaster Risk Reduction; specialized UNEP and UNESCO reports;
- important case studies eg Hurricane Katrina 2005, Tohoku earthquake 2011, Sumatra tsunami 2004; Mt St Helens volcano eruption 1980, Indonesia floods 2020, Venezuela landslides 1999, etc.;
- mitigation, awareness and preparedness strategies;
- local applications and case studies.

Main Reading List

Marine Spatial Planning: a step-by-step approach toward ecosystem based management (2009) by Ehler Charles & Fanny Douvere.
Intergovernmental Oceanographic. Commission and Man and the Biosphere Programme. IOC Manual and Guides No. 53, ICAM Dossier No. 6. Paris: UNESCO. (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001865/186559e.pdf)

Study-unit Aims

Introduce marine GIS and spatial planning in support to a variety of environmental management activities including impact assessment, biophysical characterization and monitoring, and marine resources mapping;
Provide the students with a broad knowledge of how different hazards originate;
Make the students aware of international efforts at mitigating risks and prepare them to contribute to local awareness and preparedness plans;
Guide the students to assess MSP-related challenges within Malta's ports through a Boat site visit to Marsamxett and Grand Harbour.

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge and Understanding

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

discuss the concepts and terminology for maritime spatial planning (MSP), especially within the European perspective, including benefits and relation to other existing management approaches, primarily integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) and ecosystem based management (EBM);
explain the origin and progression of the main geo-environmental hazards;
critically discuss the impact of geoenvironmental hazards on society, giving examples from notable case studies.

Learning Outcomes: Skills

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

apply the essential steps for developing and implementing MSP, with an insight on how maritime spatial planning can enhance ecosystem based and integrated management at the local and regional levels;
identify the relevant aspects to be considered and the spatial data to apply in organizing and handling multi-tasking questions in the specific cases of maritime and coastal contexts;
apply knowledge, understanding and problem solving abilities in new or unfamiliar contexts involving broader (or multidisciplinary) factors that link science to management issues and across legal and socioeconomic aspects;
identify clear explanations about geoenvironmental hazards affecting today's society;
discuss case studies of geoenvironmental hazards and analyse the causes and impacts.

Non EU Applicants:

EUR500

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