The International Environment Institute of the University of Malta recently launched Coasts and Conflicts: towards harmonisation and integration in the Mediterranean. Elisabeth Conrad and Dr Louis F. Cassar, the authors, provide a concise and holistic overview of coastal management issues and techniques in the Mediterranean Basin.

The publication of the handbook is part-financed by INTERREG IIIB Archimed through the project “ECONET-COHAST”. The project sought to address the need to establish and adopt environmental management tools and methodologies in the central and eastern Mediterranean, with a view to assess landscape scale processes as well as deliver guidelines for the long-term conservation management of coastal habitats. Further information on the project can be accessed through the portal, www.econet-coast.eu. Locally, the project was administered by the Foundation for International Studies.

The book launch was chaired by Professor Alfred J. Vella, Pro-Rector, University of Malta, while Professor Salvino Busuttil and Professor Peter Serraccino Inglott provided a critique and discourse relevant to the topic. Dr. Ioannis Manakos, representing the lead partner (Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania), also addressed those present. The event was attended by academics, conservation specialists, members of non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders, as well as by the partners from participating universities engaged in the project.