Dr. Boudaya Lobna - University of Sfax, Sfax (Tunisia)

 Mr. Khan Zaahid - University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (South Africa)

PhD Diallo  Khady -  Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels (Belgium)

Mr. Mangane  Djibril -  Ucoopia, the Belgian inter-university NGO for international cooperation (Belgium)
Dr. Lorenz Wendt - Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg (Austria) 
Mr. Thierry De Coster - ULB-Coopération / Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels (Belgium)

Collective proposal

This panel proposes to analyze the specific contributionon of partnerships between African and European universities and civil society organizations (CSOs), including Ucoopia1, to Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) within the framework of the climate, environment, and energy nexus. Coastal ecosystems, particularly mangroves and seagrass meadows, represent critical socio-ecological systems increasingly exposed to anthropogenic and climatic pressures. 
Universities generate robust analytical frameworks—ecological inventories, socio-ecological resilience assessments, climate impact modeling, and social science research—while CSOs/NGOs ensure the translation of such knowledge into practice, simultaneously providing empirical data and feedback that in turn stimulate new scientific questions. 

This science–society interface constitutes a research–action–transformation continuum, enabling the production of contextualized knowledge, testing its applicability, and informing public policies. Particular atention will be given to the importance of designing and financing projects in the areas of mitigation (emission reduction and carbon sink protection), adaptation (local capacity-building, conomic and energy diversification), and compensation (loss and damage) when impacts are irreversible. 
By convening scholars and practitioners from environmental sciences, climate and geosciences, economics, law, public health (OneHealth), and education, the panel will illustrate the conditions under which Africa–Europe collaboration can foster transdisciplinary knowledge production, contribute to the energy transition, and strengthen both climate resilience and environmental governance.