Vectors of Change in Oceans and Seas Marine Life, Impact on
Economic Sectors (VECTORS) is a European Commission
Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) project.
VECTORS aims to improve our understanding of
how environmental and man made factors are impacting marine
ecosystems now and how they will do so in the future. The project
is addressing invasives, outbreaks and changes in fisheries
distribution and productivity - in a sea with changing pressures
including marine renewables, climate change, ocean acidification,
fisheries and shipping. VECTORS will also examine how these
changes will affect the range of goods and services provided by the
oceans, the ensuing socio-economic impacts and some of the measures
that could be developed to mitigate or adapt to these changes.
VECTORS will address a complex array of
interests comprising areas of concern for marine life,
biodiversity, sectoral interests, regional seas, and academic
disciplines as well as the interests of stakeholders. The project
will also ensure that the links and interactions between these
areas of interest are explored, explained, modelled and
communicated effectively to the relevant stakeholders.
The VECTORS consortium is extremely
experienced and genuinely multidisciplinary. It includes a mixture
of natural scientists, some with knowledge of socio-economic
aspects, and social scientists (environmental economists, policy
and governance analysts and environmental law specialists) with
interests in natural system functioning. VECTORS is therefore fully
equipped to deliver the integrated interdisciplinary research
required to achieve its objectives with maximal impact in the
arenas of science, policy, management and society.