The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is now offering an electronic course on the effects of climate change on aquaculture and fisheries and responses to them, both in the form of adaptation and mitigation measures. The course, which is now open to all through the FAO website, was conducted in connection with the ClimeFish research project that has just been completed. Matís oversaw the part of the project that dealt with adaptation to the effects of climate change and the preparation of adaptation plans for aquaculture and fisheries, and therefore played a major role in the preparation of the study material.
The course in question is based on the FAO's extensive work in the field of climate issues in the fisheries sector, in addition to which the main results of the ClimeFish project are utilized. The FAO has been a leader in this field and has published numerous reports and summaries on the impact of climate change on the global fisheries sector and the challenges involved. These include a large audit from the year 2018, which Matís also discussed on his website. The course provides insight into the effects of climate change on aquaculture and fisheries, adaptation and mitigation measures, as well as the methods that have been developed to set up adaptation measures to respond. Anyone interested in raising awareness of the subject can simply create user access through the FAO website and then take the 2-hour course. The course is therefore accessible to everyone but was designed with certain groups in mind, ie. political leaders and parties within the administration, students, experts, project managers and educational representatives within the fisheries sector.
The structure of the course is such that after a detailed introduction, the course material is divided into three units, where the first is intended to increase the general understanding of climate change and its effects in aquaculture and fisheries, the second unit deals with adaptation, adaptation measures and adaptation plans and the third discusses mitigation measures and how they can reduce emissions within the sector.
The course is available in electronic form through the FAO website, where it can also be downloaded free of charge. At the end of the course, a special recognition document can be obtained, in exchange for passing a short final exam.
Matís' approach to assessing the impact of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture, the development of action plans, as well as the development of guidelines and teaching material in those areas, is a good example of how international co-operation in the field of research and innovation builds knowledge and infrastructure for Icelandic society.
The course can be accessed here.