Over 7 months, from September 2024 to March 2025, the project “Synergies for the Coastal Ocean between Norway and Portugal” (COSYNOPT) promoted an extensive interaction between Portuguese and Norwegian researchers, with the aim of discussing the challenges faced in Portugal and Norway, regarding a more comprehensive understanding of coastal ocean areas. Overcoming these challenges is an essential condition for supporting decisions aimed at maintaining marine ecosystems and their diversity or managing the sustainable exploitation of the resources in these areas.
Funded by the Fund for Bilateral Relations of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, the COSYNOPT project brought together as partners two leading institutions in the study of the European coastal ocean: Instituto Hidrografico (IH), in Portugal, the project’s promoter and the Institute of Marine Research (IMR), in Norway. Both institutions are strongly committed to observing, understanding and forecasting the conditions of the coastal ocean areas off their respective shores. IH and IMR operate important observation infrastructure in these areas, contributing to the European Research Infrastructure for Coastal Observatories (JERICO infrastructure).
The COSYNOPT project set three central objectives, all of which were fully achieved at the end of the execution period:
- The first of these objectives aimed to acquire in-depth knowledge between IH and IMR, capable of leveraging future collaborations. This was achieved in two complementary stages. The first stage involved a visit to IH be a delegation of 4 members from IMR (Activity #1) on 21 January 2025, which encompassed the facilities of the headquarters of this institute in Lisbon (North bank of the Tagus River) and the Azinheira Hydrographic Base in Seixal (on the South bank of the Tagus). The second stage took place on the 18 and 19 February 2025, with the visit of a delegation of 5 elements from IH to the IMR (Activity #2), covering the central facilities of that institute in Bergen and the Austevoll research station (in the Austevoll archipelago, located about 40 km South of Bergen). These visits allowed for the acquisition of profound knowledge about each of the institutions, their areas of activity and the installed capacities (equipment’s, laboratories, operated infrastructures). They also provide the opportunity for a direct contact between researchers of the two institutions, a key aspect in the establishing of future partnerships.
- The second central objective of COSYNOPT aimed to promote an extensive discussion on how to advance the observation and understanding of coastal ocean areas in Portugal and Norway, bringing together a wide range of partners from both countries and aiming to prepare for a collaborative action to be developed in the short term. This discussion focused on two specific geographical areas, regarded as prime laboratories for the study of the coastal ocean – the area of influence of Nazaré Canyon (W coast of Portugal) and the Lofoten-Vesterålen area (NW coast of Norway). On the 22nd January 2025, in Nazaré, a first meeting (Activity #3) took place, which brought together researchers from IH, IMR, the University of Aveiro, the Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologias do Mar of Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, as well as representatives from the Nazaré City Hall. On the 20th and 21st of February 2025, in Norway, a second set of meeting (Activity#4) took place that allowed to further explore the ideas discussed in the previous meeting. On the 20th February, these discussions were held at the IMR facilities, in Bergen, involving researcher from IMR, IH and from COVARTEC AS, a Norwegian consulting company in the areas of research and development, a partner of IH and IMR in JERICO. On the 21st of February, the discussions continued in Trondheim, through the meeting between one IH researcher and representatives from the Norwegian company Fugro-Oceanor. The outcome of this set of discussions held in Nazaré, Bergen and Trondheim is summarized in the report “Coastal Ocean Synergies between Norway and Portugal” (Activity #6).
- The opportunity presented by the gathering in Nazaré of specialists in the study of the coastal ocean, from IMR, IH and from other Portuguese institutions, motivated the third central objective of the project, the carrying out of activities capable of engaging the wide public community in Portugal. These activities were aimed to promote the research that, in Portugal and Norway, is presently being conducted with the focus on coastal ocean areas. The Seminar “The Sea of Nazaré and the Coastal Ocean Challenges” (Activity #5), held during the afternoon of 23rd January 2025, at the auditorium of the José Soares Municipal Library of Nazaré, constituted the central action towards fulfilling this objective. Open to the general public, the seminar brought together around 40 participants and included 8 presentations by researchers from IH, IMR and University of Aveiro. On that same day, but during the morning, the COSYNOPT project also developed an action directed to the students of the Amadeu Gaudiêncio Basic and Secondary School, in Nazaré. Here, about 50 students and some of their teachers had the opportunity to follow presentations from IH, IMR and University of Aveiro which focused on the research and technology used on coastal ocean areas in Portugal and Norway.
More information about the acitivies developed by the COSYNOPT project can be found in https://www.hidrografico.pt/iprojeto/64