Balancing impacts of human activities in the Belgian part of the North Sea (BALANS)
Maes, F.; Polet, H.; Vincx, M.; Janssen, C.; Scory, S.; Leroy, D. (2007). Balancing impacts of human activities in the Belgian part of the North Sea (BALANS). Belgian Science Policy: Brussel. 200 + annexes, cd-rom pp.
BALANS stands for "Balancing impacts of human activities in the Belgian part of the North Sea". The main goal of BALANS is to gain experience in correlating and balancing relevant social, economic and ecological data, through the elaboration of indicators, and weighing these indicators through the development of a conceptual policy model for “Sustainable Management of the North Sea”. Partners from various disciplines (economics, biology, eco-toxicology, fisheries and modelling) cooperated over a 4 year period (2002-2006) towards this aim, focusing on sand and gravel extraction and shrimp fisheries on the BPNS. The main focus of BALANS is to develop a first conceptual balancing model for 'Sustainable Management of the North Sea' for shrimp fisheries and sand and gravel extraction. In a fully operational phase, the policy model should be able to support arguments and directions for policy makers in order to reach a sustainable management of the North Sea. The policy model resulting from BALANS is operational in the sense that it provides the users with a tool through which they can gain a better understanding of the activities involved in sand and gravel extraction and shrimp fisheries, and the effects of policy choices on sustainable management. While the ‘tool’ developed from BALANS may not be a definitive decision support system, it should be seen as a tool that generates a thinking process for users.
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