Governance and Coastal Management

Often our coastline has been characterized by a sectorial management and a public commitment oriented towards the tourist and recreational promotion, little worried about the conservation of the natural values. This has caused a loss of environmental and recreational quality and social conflicts between users and residents. All these dynamics directly affect the ecosystem services of our coastline, one of the most productive ecosystems (both from the social, economic and environmental point of view of our territory).

The uncertainty as to the consequences of climate change poses new challenges. The planned threats include, among other aspects, the rise in sea levels, acidification of the ocean, changes in precipitation, and the increasing incidence of extreme events such as storms and floods, as well as other consequences that, despite the uncertainty It seems inherent that they can have serious impacts on coastal areas. Therefore, it is necessary to develop adaptation strategies focused on preventing and controlling the adverse effects of climate change on the coast and its ecosystems in order to protect their ecosystem functions and services, from which the company benefits enormously.

From different academic and social sectors, it is called to manage these ecosystems in an integrated way, fostering social participation and democratizing decisions to facilitate social consensus in relation to certain projects. This also implies integrating the diversity of knowledge present in society (from the scientific disciplines to popular knowledge and perceptions and social values) in the processes of evaluation, decision making and communication.

Moving towards integrated coastal zone management involves knowing the system of agents that intervene or are affected by public policies, actions and activities that are carried out. Understanding their priorities, interests and deepening in the forms of relationship, collaboration and conflict, that is, their governance, concentrates the interest of this line of research. Thus, it is intended to support the processes of participation and agreement of the social agents in the management of the coast and create a bridge between the environmental values, the social use and the technical interventions of the coastal zones.

Specific Lines:

- Analysis of the social perception and the conflicts generated by the management and adaptation strategies of the coast.

- Knowledge of the degree of satisfaction and preferences of the socioeconomic actors, of the administrations and of the users, before a technical intervention motivated by problems of erosion or other risks such as the rise in sea level.

- Evaluation of the quality of the beaches (physical and morphological elements, environmental quality, equipment and services, the aesthetic characteristics of the coastal landscape, the proposed interventions) on the part of its users.

- Social perception of the effects of climate change on the coast

- Application of the analysis of social networks to the study of coastal risk governance.

- Analysis of the regulatory system and the planning of adaptation to climate change.