Thetis - All made in Arsenale Venice

Thetis is contributing its expertise to promote sustainable management of the Adriatic region’s marine coastal environment.

Thetis will provide scientific, technical and management assistance to the Veneto government’s Venice Project under the SHAPE (Shaping a Holistic Approach to Protect the Adriatic Environment: between coast and sea) Project. The objective of the project is to establish conditions that promote the protection and sustainable development of the Adriatic region’s marine coastal environment. Specifically, the goal is to develop a multi-level system of governance that cuts across the various sectors affected by coastal and marine management and involves all of the countries in the Adriatic region.
SHAPE is coordinated by the Emilia-Romagna Region under the EU’s IPA Adriatic Cross-border Cooperation Programme, which has approved the project and provided four million euros in financing. The project, which includes 13 partners from six Adriatic countries, is expected to last 36 months and is subdivided into five work packages (WP):
WP1 Cross-border management and coordination of the project;
WP2 Communication and dissemination of information;
WP3 Implementation of the ICZM Protocol;
WP4 Marine Spatial Planning (MPS)
WP5 Creation of an information system for the thematic maps used to integrate the ICZM, MSP and Atlante GIS Pilot Project;
All of the work packages involve the active participation of the Veneto Region, which will rely on Thetis' expertise.
Specifically, the activities falling under WP4 (Marine Spatial Planning) will be directly coordinated by the Veneto Region and involve:
- Defining the reference framework and methodology for analyzing the degree of implementation, on both the national and regional scale, of the MSP (Marine Spatial Planning) policy tools;
- Defining the reference framework and methodology for integrated analysis of the state of the Adriatic ecosystem, providing information that will be used to support implementation of Directive 2008/56/EC and MSP;
- Defining issues relating to the implementation of MSP in the Adriatic and defining planning scenarios;
- Supporting management of the “Coastal Buoy System in Veneto” Pilot Project and correlating information that will be used to promote new types of off-shore fish farming;
- Formulating guidelines for Maritime Spatial Planning.

This multifaceted project offers an opportunity for Thetis to test the capabilities and expertise it recently acquired in projects for the DG Environment (under the Coastal Information System Project) and ICZM Member States, applying the company’s scientific and technological knowledge and experience to the North Adriatic.