“Nothing is static, and neither are the world’s coasts. Constantly shaped by waves and wind, and at a progressive rate by humans, coasts are facing considerable changes – and challenges. A rising demand for coastal resources, resulting alterations and interventions in the coastal zone, natural hazards, climate change and resulting effects have noticeable and often serious impacts on coastal land and waters, on coastal societies and ecosystems. This situation becomes even more challenging due to the unequal distribution of supply and demand. There is an urgent need to address these challenges by designing development scenarios that are able to increase the resilience and adaptive capacity of both the human and the natural coastal sub-systems. To foster a range of options for sustainable coastal development, we need to clearly identify the key issues and implement appropriate measures and strategies to best address them.”

Dr. Barbara Neumann

Image: Barbara Neumann