Owing to the decision of the Parliament of Slovenia of 25 September 2009 to adopt the Law on Ratification of the ICZM Protocol for the Mediterranean, Slovenia was the first among the Contracting Parties of the Barcelona Convention to ratify it. Honouring this decision, it was agreed that as of 2010 Coast Day would be celebrated at the date of the first ICZM Protocol ratification, namely, on 25 September.
The 2010 regional Coast Day celebration took place in Portoroz, Slovenia. The event was organised jointly by PAP/RAC and MAP, in collaboration with the Slovenian Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning.
The event was opened by the inspiring speech of Mr Roko Zarnic, Minister of the Environment and Spatial Planning of Slovenia, setting up the roadmap for the future ICZM Protocol implementation and highlighting that the Protocol should become the instrument for a more efficient co-operation at all levels, helping the partnership among the civil society, users, and local and national governments for a more efficient management of coastal areas. In addition, the honorary guest, Mr Pavel Gantar, President of the National Assembly of Slovenia, being the host of this regional celebration, pointed out that Slovenia would like to actively participate in the implementation of the Protocol objectives in the sub-regional Adriatic, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of this co-operation to other sub-regions in the Mediterranean.
The main focus of the 2010 Coast Day was centred on the issues of public participation, in particular participatory approach to the ICZM, and institutional co-ordination. These include individual responsibility and changing citizens’ attitude and behaviour, as well as the role of local authorities and stakeholders in responsible coastal planning and management. In order to exchange ideas on good practices in implementing the coastal management at the local level, the participants from different Mediterranean countries gave an interesting and inspiring overview of different approaches and coastal management projects leading to sustainable planning and management of coastal areas.
Finally, on the occasion of the 2010 regional Coast Day celebration, a number of outdoor activities were organised by local NGOs. Also, the examples of a successful sustainable coastal management practice in the Port of Koper and Skocjanski zatok were presented to the participants.
