International

ICAN is a project of UNESCO IOC´s IODE Programme, and ICAN members seek to play a leadership role in forging international collaborations of value to the participating nations, thereby optimizing regional governance in coastal zone management and marine spatial planning.

Coastal

We live on a blue planet, with oceans and seas that cover more than 70% of the Earth's surface. The oceans feed us, regulate our climate, and generate most of the oxygen we breathe. Approximately 37% of the world's population lives within 100 km of the coast. (UNEP)

Atlas

CWAs are "...collections of digital maps and datasets with supplementary tables, illustrations, & information that systematically illustrate the coast, oftentimes with cartographic & decision support tools, all of which are accessible via the Internet."  O'Dea et al., 2007

Network

Membership in ICAN is open to all interested parties who agree to the mission & objectives of ICAN, including those with an operational coastal web atlas, as well as those hoping to design and build a coastal web atlas in the future.

Join us!

ICAN 2025: Save the Date!

ICAN 2025:Virtual Workshop

ICAN 2025: Building Knowledge, Taking Action

September 30, October 1-2 2025 
Time: 10am-1pm EST, 2pm-5pm UTC, 4pm-7pm CEST

The 2025 International Coastal Atlas Workshop will be held online from September 30 to October 2, 2025, with a series of live and recorded content. The workshop will provide an opportunity to present and discuss recent innovations in atlases, how atlases are answering the Ocean Decade Challenges and it will also investigate synergies with other initiatives around the world.

The Organizing Committee of ICAN 2025 invites abstracts for online live or recorded presentations for:

  • Session I – Innovated Approaches to Atlas Development: Sharing creative approaches to knowledge production and encouraging action through atlas development

  • Session II – Connections to the Ocean Decade: aiming to explore how our Atlases are answering to the Ocean Decade Challenges 

  • Session III – Knowledge to Action: exploring how projects can encourage various types of actions around the worlds

The workshop is free and open to all with pre-registration. We welcome submissions that may fit the above themes, and can accomodate both live and pre-recorded presentations.

Submit your Abstract here

(Registration link for the conference coming soon)

ICAN 9 : Detailed Agenda (English)

Details
Published: 21 September 2021 21 September 2021

ICAN 9: Local to Global
Benefits of Coastal Web Atlas Sharing & Connectivity

September 27 - 29, 2021

2pm-5pm UTC

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The 9th International Coastal Atlas Workshop (ICAN 9) will be held online from September 27 to 29th 2021, with a series of live and recorded content. The workshop will provide an opportunity to present and discuss recent innovations in atlases, how atlases can contribute to the goals of the UN´s Decade of Ocean Science and it will also investigate synergies with other initiatives such as the IODE OceanInfoHub.

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Workshop is FREE and available LIVE in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French

**NOTE** All times are approximate, as organizers may need to adjust the agenda as circumstances arise.

 

Session I: Sept 27th

Coastal Atlas Community

Monday September 27, 14:00 UTC

Aiming to introduce new and established resources and connect with the wider coastal web atlas community

Co-Hosts:
David Hart, University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute
Ned Dwyer, Randbee Consultants

Part I

(90 minutes)

Part II

(75 minutes)

 

Session II: Sept 28th

Atlases, the UN Decade & the SDGs

Tuesday September 28, 14:00 UTC

Aiming to explore how Coastal Web Atlases can contribute to and link in with the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences and the Sustainability Goals

Co-Hosts:
Andrew Sherin, former Director, COINAtlantic
Kate Sullivan, Professor of Anthropology, California State University Los Angeles

Part I

(85 minutes)

Part II

(80 minutes)

 

Session III: Sept 29th

Sharing your Atlas with the World

Wednesday September 29, 14:00 UTC

Aiming to explore how Atlases can share their content more effectively and
make connections to the OceanInfoHub project

Co-Hosts:
Adam Leadbetter, Data Management Team Leader, Marine Institute, Ireland
Lucy Scott, Ocean InfoHub Project Manager

Part I

(80 minutes)

 

Part II

(80 minutes)

 

More Articles ...

  1. ICAN 8: Ísafjörður, Iceland
  2. ICAN 7: Cape Town, South Africa
  3. ICAN 6 : British Columbia

  For our Coasts

Vol, 8, Nr 2 - Now Available!

We are now entering our 9th year publishing the ICAN newsletter. Many thanks to our Editor Andy Sherin!

Please consider preparing an article for the next newsletter that will likely be published in the spring of this year.

Happy New Year!

Latest News

Photos from CoastGIS 2018

Our friends from CoastGIS 2018 have posted a wonderful gallery of photos, including the recent ICAN mini-workshop:

See how many ICAN members you can spot!