Workshop report on sharing knowledge and experience to support intergrated management of Cork Harbour and catchment

This report summarises contributions by Cork Harbour and Catchment stakeholders who participated in the “Sharing knowledge and experience to support integrated management of Cork Harbour and Catchment” workshop, held in University College Cork’s Sustainability Institute: Beaufort Building on 24th February 2026.
Invitations were extended to local authorities, government departments and agencies, NGO, industry sectors and the academic community with 18 stakeholders involved on the day. The Workshop, through a series of structured parallel and plenary sessions, allowed participants to identify a range of issues and discuss and agree associated recommendations. This report outlines the approach adopted and presents both the issues raised and the participants suggestions to address these concerns with a focus on improving the efficacy of integrated management of the Harbour and Catchment.
Over the course of three discussion sessions “Scene Setting: A shared region and shared visions”, “Current Information and data sharing”, and “Integrating knowledge and information”, attendees established a shared understanding of the Cork Harbour and Catchment region, current and future priorities, and identified the key barriers to integrated management. They then shared their professional experiences of decisions they make in their roles concerning the harbour and/or catchment, before identifying the information needs they have, or information gaps that could improve decision-making. The final session focused on how the gaps could be resolved, with participants identifying practical steps, and potential
collaborative actions that, if implemented, could advance integrated management of the Harbour and Catchment in a manner that balances thriving local economies, environmental resilience, and social wellbeing.
The half day event mapped out a range of issues that regulators, industry and civil society representatives working in the region would like to see addressed, potentially by improving regional capacity to manage and
make decisions in a more integrated fashion. Participants engaged productively with the discussions, resulting in a wealth of perspectives, information, and guidance. A comprehensive analysis was conducted, consisting of a manual review and assisted text analysis to address potential bias. This approach ensured that all perspectives were incorporated and recognised’. It helped to identify patterns, gaps, and prevalent topics within the stakeholder feedback, which were then validated through team discussions and cross referenced with the original discussion records to ensure consistency and validity.
The goal was to create a robust, actionable summary that reflects the depth and diversity of participant contributions. Fifteen overall recommendations were extracted from the perspectives shared over the
course of the discussions. They are presented here alongside the highlighted challenges, and identified needs to help guide future efforts, maintain momentum and promote action that addresses those issues.