Declaration of Principles

We, the participants of the second EMECS Conference, thank Governor Toshitam
i Kaihara for his vision in initiating this international forum with the first EMECS Conference in 1990. We also thank Governor William Donald Schaefer for inviting us to Baltimore and for hosting the second Conference on the shores of the beautiful Chesapeake Bay. We believe that EMECS has proven its value as a stimulating forum for sharing information and ideas on issues of great concern to us all.

We affirm that EMECS is dedicated to the following principles:

facilitating the international exchange of scientific information, including advances in research and modeling on coastal phenomena;

fostering understanding among policy makers and researchers of the motivations and interests of citizens which are essential to the implementation of sound policy;

improving communication and cooperation across the increas
ingly important science policy interface;

  • facilitating the international exchange of scientific information, including advances in research and modeling on coastal phenomena;
  • fostering understanding among policy makers and researchers of the motivations and interests of citizens which are essential to the implementation of sound policy;
  • improving communication and cooperation across the increas
    ingly important science policy interface;
  • building upon common commitments to protect coastal seas because of their importance as places of physical beauty and cultural and historic meaning;
  • providing a venue for exchange of technology useful to solving problems of coastal seas; and,
  • pursuing new approaches to governance informed by our concern for ecosystems that cross the jurisdictional boundaries that mankind has imposed.

We agree that EMECS must be committed to pursing these principles into the Twenty-first Century, and we hope they will guide the organization and participation of future EMECS Conferences. In addition, we welcome Governor Kaihara's intention to establish an international EMECS center in Kobe, Japan, to pursue ongoing efforts to protect and maintain our precious coastal seas and their irreplaceable natural resources.

Finally, we enthusiastically endorse the generous offer of Sweden to host EMECS '96 in Stockholm as consistent with our recommendation that future EMECS conferences should take place on various sites representing coastal seas around the world.