Bridging the gap between science and stakeholders (GAP1)
Gap1 is the first of a planned 3-phase programme. The project will explore how the knowledge and skills of science and industry partners can be combined to enhance the understanding and management of fisheries. The findings of such explorations will be used to produce a proposal for a research project incorporating all that has been learnt during the first phase.
Objectives
- Build trust and relationships by engaging stakeholders and scientists in planning cooperative research.
- To engage in open dialogue and develop complementary understanding through planning and preparation of hypothesis driven case studies.
- Use the case studies and the sociological experiences from regional activities on developing cooperative research ideas, to plan an RTD project aiming to combine and make use of the knowledge of fishermen and scientists.
- Communicate and disseminate the concepts, plans and outcomes of GAP1, at the national and European level.
Policy development
Involvement of stakeholders in fisheries research will contribute to re-building credibility of scientific advice used by policy makers. The fishers will be able to place more trust in the difficult decisions made to ensure the sustainability of the fisheries. They will, therefore, be more likely to abide by the decisions that affect their livelihoods so greatly.
Partners
The GAP1 project consists of 16 participant scientific institutions and 15 stakeholder participants. The geographic distribution covers 11 countries. The partnering of each scientific institute with a stakeholder participant is intended to provide a balanced approach for developing specific case studies.
http://www.gap1.eu/
