Building Capacity to Crosslink Coastal Pollution with Climate Change - BC5
Building Capacity to Crosslink Coastal Pollution with Climate Change - BC5
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Section One
Building Capacity to Crosslink Coastal Pollution with Climate Change BC5 is a strategic north-south-south collaboration between the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the University of Ghana (UG) & the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. BC5 addresses the thematic area «Climate Change and Natural Resources» under NORHED II. BC5 aims at building knowledge on sustainable management of marine coastal ecosystems and resources, strengthening & improving existing regional coastal research. Research activities will be parallel and intertwined with capacity enhancement in education through the establishment of field & experimental training & curriculum development on the combined impact of coastal contamination & climate change on coastal ecosystems in Ghana and Tanzania.
BC5 will focus on defining and implementing successful programs to enhance local capacity in education, research and management on coastal resources. BC5’s project implementation will have as fundament research-based education activities, bringing current problems of great societal importance as part of the research & education curriculum, challenging students to gain knowledge and develop approaches that will result in real impact activities.
Increasing higher education & research on the topic of impact of pollution & climate change in the coastal ecosystem will strengthen and define new approaches for sustainable management of coastal resources in Ghana & Tanzania, two representative countries in West & East Africa. In addition, BC5 initiates for research-based learning will Strengthen students’ transversal skills, such as communication, teamwork & creativity, as well as technical & entrepreneurship skills to favor the transition to employment while narrowing down the gap between research, educational practice & management of coastal resources.
BC5 thematic focus will be on the impacts of contaminants (i.e. plastics, e-waste, mining, pesticides and nutrients) from agricultural runoff non-climatic stressors in combination with climatic stressors, on the marine and coastal environment.
The need for multi-stressor approach: The studies of single stressor responses although used for decades offering a versatile and controlled mechanistic approach to understanding ecological, physiological and evolutionary responses, do not constitute the most realistic approach to evaluate the potential ramifications caused by the current complex nature of both climatic and non-climatic processes acting upon marine ecosystems. In ecosystems, results showed contrasting responses when negative effects for single stressors observed independently on a given variable, exhibited a net positive effect in the combination of these two. Thus, there is a pressing need to understand better the potential effect of multiple stressors (climatic and non-climatic) combined on marine ecosystems.
Our Team
Our Team
BC5 is a north-south-south collaborative network between Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), University of Ghana (UG) and University of Dar-es-Salaam (UDSM) focusing on coastal “blue economy”. There are 11PhDs and 33 Masters students affiliated with the project.
An NTNU initiative that focus on bridging the gaps between students and researchers in academia with private stakeholders (sailors and enterprises), local communities and NGOs.
