9th International Symposium on GIS and Computer Cartography for Coastal Zone Management (CoastGIS’09)

CoastGIS, the International Symposium on GIS and Computer Mapping for Coastal Management, is a series of conferences that began in Cork, Ireland, in 1995 as a collaboration between the Commission on Coastal Systems of the International Geographical Union and the Commission on Marine Mapping of the International Cartographic Association. In the early 1990s, both were aiming to find a vehicle through which coastal issues and technological processes could be examined and means by which recent advances in the mapping of the world's coastal zones could jointly find an outlet. This has taken on an increased significance with each Conference and the meeting previously planned as a one-off has now evolved into a regular, two-yearly event.

Subsequent CoastGIS meetings have now been held in Ireland (Cork, 1995), Scotland (Aberdeen, 1997), France (Brest, 1999), Canada (Halifax, 2001), Italy (Genova, 2003), Scotland (Aberdeen, 2005), Australia (Wollongong, 2006), and Spain (Santander, 2007). The conference series focuses mainly on applications of GIS and, more recently, coastal Spatial Data Infrastructure, for the coastal and marine research and management communities, globally.

The first meeting in convened at the University College in Cork, between 3rd - 5th February 1995, was attended by 160 participants with delegates coming from as far afield as Mexico, South Africa and Australia. There was no particular sub-theme other than the title, which has remained: The International Symposium on GIS and Computer Mapping for Coastal Zone Mapping. As the firs of the series, the 1995 event was devoted to comparing notes and defining the "state of the art" among a very heterogenous set of interest groups, most of whom had had little opportunity to gather in the one forum before. GIS was then recognized as a useful technological tool for considering coastal zone issues, from management to specific modelling and research issues.

In 1997, the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) was the venue for the second meeting (sub-title 'The Next Millennium') which was attended by 120 delegates plus local researchers and students. European moves towards the development of coastal zone initiatives were a dominant feature of this gathering. Research projects and techniques discussed database ideas and data usage, and started to see the modelling of pollutants and tidal phenomena. The increased sophistication brought to the table in the techniques and combination of different data sets marked the two years since the Cork meeting.

The third meeting in Brest was convened at the establishment of IFREMER between 9th – 11th September 1999. The sub-theme was "Geomatics and Coastal Environment", and around 150 or so delegates participated in the event. The convergence of GIS technologies and analytical methods, with traditional methods of marine charting, showed eloquently that GIS applications in hydrography had come a long way, and offering dynamic real-time use of the databased information for an increasingly sophisticated range of applications. Data acquisition was similarly becoming more sophisticated, with the use of airborne laser; and the web was starting to be discussed as a means for delivering free data. Also at Brest, a number of research projects were presented that started to consider the regulatory aspects of data interoperability, as well as the importance of standards to facilitate such integration, legal implications, regulatory issues, training and education and, especially for the Developing World, the role of technology transfer.

From 18th to 20th June of 2001, the Saint Mary's University in Halifax (Canada) convened around 170 or so delegates with locals and researchers. Under the sub-theme "Geomatics and Coastal Environment, the CoastGIS 2001 was attended by delegates from participation from India, Nigeria, Cameroon, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, among others.

Environmental analysis was emphasised as was the use of temporal data sets. Various methods for mapping shorelines was exposed and discussed. Pollution issues were focused upon by some researchers.

Resource applications, such as fisheries management, were dominant in a number of presentations. Overall, the shift in emphasis towards integration of systems for coastal management, and the growing interest in coastal SDI as noted above, were especially in evidence at this meeting. So too was the international dimension of coastal GIS:

as well as the stalwart regulars from nations such as France, the US, Canada, UK and other European countries, many of whom had attended most, or in some cases all, previous CoastGIS meetings, in Halifax we were joined by new colleagues from countries such as India, Ecuador, Togo, Greenland and Colombia.

The fifth CoastGIS was held between 16-18th October at the Palazzo Ducale in Genova (Italy). The 2003 event, attended by 93 participants, was conceived and structured to foster an increase in knowledge of GIS technology and usability for technical people and for researchers in the field, also considering the potential interest for the Conference by people who are not "GI experts" such as researchers not directly involved in the use and management of geo-related data, or decision makers and planners. Most presentations covered coastal zone research, monitoring or management.

Back in Scotland in 2005, the sixth edition addressed the sub-theme "Defining and Building a Marine and Coastal Spatial Data Infrastructure" attracting an international audience of 88 participants including coastal researchers, managers and practitioners. CoastGIS 2005 topics included spatial data infrastructures, remote sensing and photogrammetry, visualisation and modelling, climate change, and coastal zone management and coastal planning.

In July 2006, approximately 150 delegates converged on the Wollongong University in New South Wales, Australia, for the 7th International CoastGIS meeting. The conference offered three days of papers and poster presentations, on topics as diverse as technologies for capturing and managing data for on- and off-shore environments; the challenges inherent in joining up marine and terrestrial data into integrated seamless databases; institutional aspects of designing and implementing spatial data infrastructures; and GIS-based modelling of coastal processes and activities; as well as a broad diversity of applications of the techniques for coastal zone planning, management and administration. Considerable attention was devoted to the challenges of integrating and linking the landward and seaward elements of the coast into truly unified, seamless 3- and 4-dimensional geospatial databases.

From 8th to 10th October 2007, 142 coastal science researchers and coastal environmental managers met on the delightful Cantabrian coast in Santander, Spain, for the 8th in the series of CoastGIS international conferences. The papers and presentations had evolved over the years from a 'micro' view, looking specifically at GIS applications mainly related to better understanding of coastal processes to the 'macro' level. Much of the research presented now covered a range of GIS technologies, especially embracing the Internet and web services delivering coastal information not only to decision makers but directly to citizens, in easy to use and understandable forms.

CoastGIS 2009 is the second time the Symposium will be held in the southern hemisphere after Australia, and it is the first time it is being held in the South America. It is with great honour that we invite you to attend the 9th International Symposium on GIS and Computer Mapping for Coastal Zone Mapping. CoastGIS 2009 will be held at the beautiful coastal city Florianopolis, in southern Brazil.

Please feel free to contact the Conference Secretariat or one of the local organising committee.

Links and materials from the previous conferences as well as upcoming events can be found at www.coastgis.org.

Source: http://www.coastgis.com.br/history.php