Addressing the urgent need to tackle the global challenges of poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation, this is highly valuable reading for those interested in implementing sustainable development strategies across a variety of contexts.

Many coastal fisheries are poorly managed and overexploited, resulting in suboptimal yields and lost revenue, and damage to other species and habitats. The Coastal Fisheries Initiative (CFI) is a global effort between FAO and other development partners to address these issues in a holistic and integrated way. It aims to work at a practical level with selected fisheries and to facilitate a global exchange of experience and learning. The CFI comprises subsidiary regional projects in Indonesia, Latin America and West Africa, a sustainable investment support project, and a global partnership and coordination project. The mid-term evaluation of the global coordination project found that, while the initiative is extremely relevant, it has so far had limited impact of a strengthened global partnership. The evaluation recommended greater coordination between the subsidiary projects, a strengthened reporting structure and a project extension of up to two years.

The Pacific Regional Synthesis for The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture summarizes the state of biodiversity for food and agriculture in the region, based largely on information provided in ten country reports submitted to FAO as part of the reporting process for the report on The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture. Biodiversity for food and agriculture is the diversity of plants, animals and micro-organisms at genetic, species and ecosystem levels present in and around crop, livestock, forest and aquatic production systems. It is essential to the structure, functions and processes of these systems, to livelihoods and food security, and to the supply of a wide range of ecosystem services. It has been managed or influenced by farmers, livestock keepers, forest dwellers, fish farmers and fisherfolk for hundreds of generations. The report was originally prepared as supporting documentation for an informal regional consultation on the state of the Pacific region’s biodiversity for food and agriculture, held in Nadi, Fiji, in May 2016. It was later revised based on feedback received from the participants of the informal consultation. It provides a description of the drivers of change affecting the region’s biodiversity for food and agriculture and of its current status and trends. It also discusses the state of efforts to promote the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity for food and agriculture in the region, including through the development of supporting policies, legal frameworks, institutions and capacities.

Nordic fisheries at a crossroad explores how Nordic small-scale fisheries can develop to promote high value creation and product specialization. By looking at recent developments among small-scale but land-based food producers we suggest specialization and dedication as the main development strategies. The central notion is to break away from the price-competitive globalised fish markets and develop new products or distribution models. To succeed in this, there is a need for substantive and coordinated efforts to bridge the gap between conventional logics and the new development logics, between supply and demand. The vision should be to develop viable and composite markets for high quality and specialty fish products through dedication and specialization. Markets that go beyond the local and reach supermarkets and consumers on a national and international scale.

The Spanish Association of Project Engineering is pleased to publish the following selection of the best papers presented at the 13th International Congress on Project Engineering. After having organized an annual Congress with an array of universities over the last 16 years —first at the national and then at the international level— by the end of 2008 the AEIPRO Directive Board decided to establish a Scientific Committee to evaluate the papers presented at the Congress. The Scientific Committee has also chosen the works to be published in the selected proceedings of the Congress. The procedures to establish the Scientific Committee and evaluate the submitted papers are explained below in detail. It is the hope of the Committee that the compiled works contribute to the improvement of project engineering research and improve the transfer of results to the job of Project Engineers.

Complex geopolitical debate surrounds the role of intellectual property (IP) in advancing and achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Summarising and advancing this discourse, this prescient Companion is a thorough examination of how IP law interacts, influences and impacts each of the seventeen SDGs.

The book presents an overview and historic perspectives of a novel scientific field coming of age today: coastal and ocean management. It covers diverse and changing issues, ranging from conflict resolution to governance and ethical-political imperatives, natural disasters and climate change, culminating in coastal and ocean typologies, the basis for a future theory of coasts and oceans. Eighteen chapters, written by two main authors in cooperation with international experts, review 25 years of research. The authors address challenges to society related to global change issues that have been generated by human activity in both temperate (Sweden, Germany and the United States) and tropical regions (Brazil, Indonesia). Ultimately, the book documents the maturation of a field and responds to changing societal needs and scientific outlooks. It gathers recent analyses along with important earlier research, with a foreword by Biliana Cicin-Sain and Richard Delaney, globally renowned as coastal and ocean experts in theory and practice. Its broad approach makes the book a must-read for graduate and postgraduate students, as well as coastal management and marine spatial planning practitioners, and for researchers in the fields of geography, anthropology, history of science, human and social ecology, and environmental and development studies.

In June 2014, FAO member-states endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines). These Guidelines are one of the most significant landmarks for small-scale fisheries around the world. They are comprehensive in terms of topics covered, and progressive, with their foundations based on human rights and other key principles. It can be anticipated that implementing the SSF Guidelines, whether at local, national, or regional levels, will be challenging. This book contains in-depth case studies where authors discuss the extent to which the Guidelines can help improve the realities of small-scale fishing men and women globally and make their livelihoods and communities more secure. This will require policy intervention and innovation, along with contributions of civil society organizations and academia. However, most of all it will necessitate the empowerment of fishing people so that they can become active participants in decision making on matters where their well-being and human rights are at stake. By endorsing the SSF Guidelines, states have committed themselves to support and facilitate this development. This book asks whether states can successfully “walk the talk,” and provides advice as to how they can do so. The collection of case studies sets the platform for an interactive dialogue space for researchers, policy makers, civil society and small-scale fishing communities to start the conversation about the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the SSF Guidelines at local, national, regional and global levels. An added value is that it helps add focus to our work as civil society activists involved in ensuring the application of the SSF Guidelines. Naseegh Jaffer – General Secretary, World Forum of Fisher People (WFFP) This collection offers many ways in which institutions enabling small-scale fisheries can protect and promote sustainability, food security, customary tenure, self-management, and market access, while fostering such benefits as ecosystem-based management, protected areas, incorporation of local knowledge, and poverty alleviation. You will want to put this book in the hands of policy-makers and practitioners immediately -- and for years to come. Evelyn Pinkerton – Professor, Simon Fraser University, Canada