The Dahlem – type workshop of the Project “Integrated Regional Monitoring Implementation Strategy in the South European Seas (IRIS-SES)”, which is supported by the European Commission’s Directorate General of Environment, was held in Lecce-Italy on 14 – 16 May 2014 by the University of Salento. The workshop focused on the spatial and temporal scales of the monitoring activities organized for pelagic and benthic systems and the natural variability in the proposed monitoring parameters, as well as the optimization of the monitoring programs required by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The workshop was attended by a number of experts from partner organizations (HCMR [GR], IO – BAS [BG], NIMRD [RO], EIO [SP], UoS [IT], and TÜBİTAK – MRC [TR]) and external experts from UoM – Nostrum [SP] and IOF [CR].
