VECTORS - Understanding what the seas give us

2015-02-04 07:16 by Anja Reitz

Understanding what the seas give us is central to their future management. New website highlights an innovative approach to a sustainable future for our seas.

As global environmental changes and human activities are impacting our oceans like never before it is increasingly important to ensure effective management of our seas.  Until recently ocean management has focused on the impact that we humans have had on the marine environment. Now in a new approach the tables are turned and more emphasis is given to appreciating the impact that the marine environment has on our societies and economies, in some cases enabling us to put a value on marine ‘goods and services’.  The research findings of VECTORS, an EU funded marine research project, are now available on a new website (, which includes more details of this approach and a broad range of other findings. Their application aims to improve the management and governance of marine environments across Europe.  

VECTORS has acquired a broad range of knowledge of the pressures and challenges facing European seas and improved our understanding of the mechanisms by which these pressures cause changes in marine life and how human activity and behaviour exacerbates them. VECTORS has determined the impacts of changes in marine life on a range of ecosystems, their structure and functioning, the services they provide, as well as the economic and societal implications for us all.

VECTORS has used modelling techniques to project the future changes and consequences of human activities in the marine environment under different scenarios of adaptation and mitigation.  This helps us to understand what will happen to our seas in the future, subject to how we manage them now, and what will be the societal ramifications for us.

The website is a culmination of the four year project, presenting the individual research findings of VECTORS with detailed summaries of the outcomes and clear links to related research tasks and findings. It allows the user to navigate easily between related subjects and findings. The interconnected design of the site demonstrates the truly integrative and multi-disciplinary nature of the project but also allows users to target specific subjects, policies or locations that are of interest to them.

To find out more please visit

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