Biodiversity, Land Use, Marine and Coastal Management (BLUM)
The Network with its core theme "Biodiversity, Land Use and Marine & Coastal Management" (BLUM) involves the partner universities´ well reputed institutes of biology, resource management, marine and coastal sciences and regional development. These institutes collaborate in certain fields of expertise in order to provide significant contributions to the international community but also to promote local and regional development.
Marine and coastal realms are both substantially affected and crucial in mediating processes of climate change. These realms often possess unique ecosystems which provide significant resources for human life in the coastal regions. Resources and accessibility of the regions attract people to live and work in coastal regions, impacting on the environment directly through pollution of adjacent waters and soils or indirectly through the emission of greenhouse gases. Adapting to climate change on the endangered coasts and coping with the needs for sustainable development for coastal societies in transition define the fundamental questions simultaneously posed to all the researchers of the Network.
Since all partner universities participating in the Network’s core theme biodiversity, land use, coastal and marine management and are located within coastal regions or wetlands, the collaboration of the universities contributes significantly to MDG 7 related programmes designed to develop these regions under different climatic conditions and different societal needs.