International Centre for Island Technology

The International Centre for Island Technology (ICIT) was established in 1989 in Stromness, Orkney and is a specialist arm of Heriot-Watt University's Department of Civil and Offshore Engineering. The University in Orkney has as its remit the development of research, teaching and professional practice relevant to the sustainable economic development of islands and peripheral maritime regions. ICIT was established to carry out advanced research, postgraduate training and consultancy in marine resource management and related issues. It works through the department's Centre for Environmental Resource Management (CERM) and its areas of specialist interest include:

• Sustainable development
• Coastal zone management
• Environmental risk assessment
• Environmental economics
• Fisheries and marine bio resources
• Biodiversity
• Alternative energy
• Waste disposal systems

Based in Stromness in Orkney, ICIT also houses a Diving Unit which offers professional (HSE SCUBA) and recreational (PADI and IANTD) diving courses and supports a number of research areas in marine science as well as providing commercial/scientific diving services.

Since its inception, ICIT has developed a strong research and consultancy portfolio, enjoying mutually productive links with industry, government and other academic bodies at local, national and international levels. ICIT's consultancy work includes:

• The preparation of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and best practicable environmental options (BPEOs)
• Fishing intensity and fisheries interaction studies
• Coastal zone management plans
• Asset valuation
• Oil spill modelling
• Environmental legislation reviews
• Environmental risk assessment
• Hydrographic surveying and dispersion modelling
• Preparation of waste inventories and waste management planning
• Diving services

The Diving Unit at ICIT is crucial to many of its research programmes and also undertakes commercial contract operations. Commercial contracts have largely been associated with environmental monitoring programmes such as at the Flotta and Sullom Voe oil terminals, and specialist scientific diving survey work.

Some of ICIT's research projects

• The Development of a Non Physical Fish Fence System using Combined Infrasonic and Electric Fields
• Survey of Fish Distribution and Contamination around Offshore Platforms
• Odin - An Artificial Reef Research Study
• VALCOAST: The Role of Value Conflict Assessment Techniques in the Formulation of Implementable and Effective Coastal Zone Management Policies
• The Use and Appropriateness of Environmental Valuation in the Firth of Forth
• Low Energy Housing Demonstration Project
• Energy Planning at Regional and Urban Level in the European Community:- European Energy Network for Peripheral Islands
• Energy Planning at Regional and Urban Level in the European Community:- Feasibility Study of Tidal Current Power Generation for Coastal Waters: Orkney and Shetland
• The Development of an Integrated Waste Disposal Policy for Orkney Islands Council
• Education for Remote Areas: The Use of ISDN Technologies to Provide Highly Interactive Learning Environments
• The European Artificial Reef Research Network (EARRN)
• An Estimation of the Energy Consumption and Gaseous Emissions Associated with the Heather Platform Decommissioning Options
• Green £ Study
• Appropriate Marine Resource Management and Conflict Resolution in Island Ecosystems
• Sea Cucumber Research in Malaysia
• North Sea Coastal Management Study
• Scapa Flow Wrecks Project
• Orkney Inshore Fisheries Review
• Survey of Marine Resources
• ScapaMAP: the Scapa Flow Maritime Archaeology Project

Enquiries to: enquiries@icit.civ.hw.ac.uk
Website: http://www.icit.hw.ac.uk/