CHAPTER 3
Coastal/Marine GI/GIS - A Pan-European Perspective
R. A. Longhorn
ABSTRACT: This chapter reviews the status of coastal and marine GI (geographic
information) and GIS (geographic information systems) with regard to trans-national
projects or programmes wholly or partly funded by the EU Institutions and other
international bodies. The chapter examines the degree to which GI and GIS are taken
into consideration at planning stages in new pan-EU initiatives for coastal and marine
use, such as the current focus on the Baltic and regional planning in the Maghreb
(Mediterranean basin) and European participation in various global climate change
actions. The chapter concludes with recommendations for national and international
GI/GIS organisations, public and private, to ensure that their voices are heard at the
highest political level in the European Institutions in the current Information Society
debate. Important initiatives are now underway, such as the EC Communication to the
Council of Ministers and European Parliament “GI2000: Towards a European Policy
Framework for Geographic Information”, the development of the “EGII - European
Geographic Information Infrastructure” working document by EUROGI, GISDATA
and other pan-European organisations, and the degree to which GI will be covered in
the EU’s 13 billion ECU Fifth Framework Programme for Research and Technological
Development, especially for coastal and marine research.
Introduction
Geographic information is usually described as any information which can be related
to a location on the Earth, particularly information on natural phenomena, cultural and
human resources, or pertaining to the natural or man-made environment. Historically,
geographic information was represented by two-dimensional maps which focused on
the ownership or control and management of territory (land and sea). The more
D.R. Green and S.D. King (eds.), Coastal and Marine Geo-Information Systems, 35–59.
© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
35
Coastal/Marine GI/GIS - A Pan-European Perspective
R. A. Longhorn
ABSTRACT: This chapter reviews the status of coastal and marine GI (geographic
information) and GIS (geographic information systems) with regard to trans-national
projects or programmes wholly or partly funded by the EU Institutions and other
international bodies. The chapter examines the degree to which GI and GIS are taken
into consideration at planning stages in new pan-EU initiatives for coastal and marine
use, such as the current focus on the Baltic and regional planning in the Maghreb
(Mediterranean basin) and European participation in various global climate change
actions. The chapter concludes with recommendations for national and international
GI/GIS organisations, public and private, to ensure that their voices are heard at the
highest political level in the European Institutions in the current Information Society
debate. Important initiatives are now underway, such as the EC Communication to the
Council of Ministers and European Parliament “GI2000: Towards a European Policy
Framework for Geographic Information”, the development of the “EGII - European
Geographic Information Infrastructure” working document by EUROGI, GISDATA
and other pan-European organisations, and the degree to which GI will be covered in
the EU’s 13 billion ECU Fifth Framework Programme for Research and Technological
Development, especially for coastal and marine research.
Introduction
Geographic information is usually described as any information which can be related
to a location on the Earth, particularly information on natural phenomena, cultural and
human resources, or pertaining to the natural or man-made environment. Historically,
geographic information was represented by two-dimensional maps which focused on
the ownership or control and management of territory (land and sea). The more
D.R. Green and S.D. King (eds.), Coastal and Marine Geo-Information Systems, 35–59.
© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
35