At the heart of PEGASO is the shared ICZM Governance Platform, which has been designed to facilitate communication, exchange and networking among PEGASO partners, end users from the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and local stakeholders involved in the ten collaborative application sites (CASEs). It has mobilized around 200 scientists and 800 stakeholders in a novel way by encouraging active participation and sharing knowledge and a better understanding of the scientific and pragmatic rationale behind the PEGASO tools developed during the project.

The PEGASO governance platform has also fostered knowledge and implementation abilities through a capacity-building programme based on ‘learning by doing' and participatory activities.

From the very beginning, the governance platform has been open to regions, NGOs and institutions and has attracted several other coastal and marine initiatives (Ramsar, MedWet, MedPAN, the European Small Islands Federation, the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative, etc.). In this regard, the PEGASO governance platform has enlarged its concept to meet the needs of most relevant Mediterranean networks. It has become a valid and well-regarded forum for exchange and a hub for all ICZM-related projects, studies and initiatives in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Many lessons have been learnt from these four years of joint work on the PEGASO governance platform, resulting in guidelines on governance issues and reports on experience with the various components of the project (the integrated tool box, the CASEs, capacity building, Spatial Data Infrastructure and integrated assessment models).

Prospects
The challenge now is to mainstream the results of the project and to maintain the ICZM Governance Platform in the medium and long terms as a centre for coastal knowledge and an information portal to support ICZM processes and information exchange in the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins. The aim will be to continue serving the ICZM Protocol in general, to support the EU Integrated Marine Policy, and to create synergies with the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD).

Further information may be obtained from Julien Le Tellier.