• Organised by Ficoba and AZTI,the congress covers the wide geographical area of the Atlantic Arc coasts
  • 45 experts, mainly French and Spanish, will take part in this year’s congress
  • Programme and Registration

(Irun, 15 January 2018). The Uhinak Cross-Border Conference on Climate and Coastal Change, organised by Ficoba and AZTI, is set to be held for the third time this year, continuing to strengthen its presence as an event combating the consequences of climate change in the coastal regions. It is thus attended by a growing number of researchers interested in presenting their studies to a diverse audience, consisting of scientists and representatives from both the public sector and companies, whose close collaboration is vital in providing an efficient response to the effects of climate change on the coast.

There will be 45 speakers at this year’s Uhinak congress and the addresses will include twelve guest speeches, oral presentations and posters. The geographical origin of the speakers is undoubtedly a key aspect, with practically the same number from Spain and France, clearly reflecting the cross-border nature of the congress.

Guest speakers will include Iñigo Losada and Robert Nicholls

For yet another year, the Uhinak congress has attracted prominent climate change scientists, including Iñigo Losada from IHC Cantabria (the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the University of Cantabria) and Robert Nicholls from the University of Southampton.

Professor Losada obtained his Civil Engineering degree from Cantabria University and has a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Delaware (USA). As Professor of Hydraulic Engineering at Cantabria University’s ETSI College of Engineering and Research Director at the IHCantabria Institute of Environmental Hydraulics, he has a long-standing track record in research and knowledge transfer in the fields of coastal and offshore engineering, renewable energies in the marine environment and coastal climate and climate change. He is one of the most prolific and renowned authors in his discipline and has directed 25 research projects under the National Plan or European Programmes.  He has taken part in over 70 technology transfer projects for companies and local authorities and has developed methodologies that are today used in many different countries worldwide. He was also the Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC’s 5th Report on Climate Change, responsible for the section on coasts, and is currently contributing to the new report on the oceans.

Robert Nicholls is a leading researcher and educator in coastal engineering. His research is focussed on long-term coastal engineering and management, especially the issues of coastal impacts and adaptation to climate change, with an emphasis on sea-level rise. This work is done at all levels, from local research on the Solent strait to global assessments. One of the latest key research topics is the future of the delta areas, set to be the most threatened coastal enclaves during the next century.  Like Iñigo Losada he has also participated in a series of international assessments, particularly as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

About Uhinak

The Uhinak Cross-Border Conference on Climate and Coastal Change is a two-day event bringing together experts from Spain and other countries who will take an active approach to studying the work to be done to prepare the Atlantic Arc coasts for the effects deriving from climate change over the coming years. The creation of synergies and active partnerships for coast management and maintenance, taking a cross-border approach, is another contribution made by this congress.

Uhinak is backed by a Technical Committee made up of representatives of the Basque Government (Ihobe), Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (the Gipuzkoa Regional Government), Adegi, Spanish Climate Change Office,CSIC/ESADE/CEAB, BC3, EUCC Atlantic Center, the Basque Official Association of Civil Engineers, the Basque Coast Scientific Interest Group (GIS Littoral Basque), the Sustainability Observatory/Cristina Enea Foundation and AZTI.

It is also sponsored by numerous institutions such as the Basque Government, the Gipuzkoa Regional Government, Communauté d’Agglomération Pays Basque and the Nouvelle Aquitaine Región.

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