The MANABAS COAST project: Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions through coastal systems

Abstract

The North Sea region is facing the effects of climate change, including sea level rise, more severe storm surges and heat stress along our coasts. These effects can have a detrimental impact on coastal zones. If coastal management does not adapt to these changes, the coasts will become more vulnerable to flooding, erosion, biodiversity loss, and higher life cycle cost of traditional grey infrastructure. Therefore, adaptive coastal management is needed to protect the coast and deliver a sustainable future for the North Sea region.    Aware of these growing pressures, coastal authorities from Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France are working together in the MANABAS COAST project to set the stage for widescale implementation of Nature Based Solutions (NBS) along the North Sea coast. The project is co-funded by the Interreg North Sea (NS) Programme and builds upon the previous Interreg NS projects Building with Nature and C5A. MANABAS COAST runs from 2022 to 2027.   MANABAS Coast focuses on breaking the pilot paradox by learning in different natural and socio-economic settings how we can implement NBS on different scales. We do this by implementing fifteen study pilots covering the coasts from the north of France up to southern Sweden. We use the six enablers identified by the public-private partnership EcoShape, which are crucial in mainstreaming NBS.  In our pilots, we evaluate and learn from these enablers with respect to mainstreaming NBS. The enablers are: 1 Technology and system knowledge, 2 Multi-stakeholder approach, 3 Adaptive management, maintenance and monitoring, 4 Institutional embedding, 5 Business case, and 6 Capacity building. This learning-by-doing approach provides us with a wealth of information which is used to develop an accessible and evidence-based framework for widescale implementation of NBS in coastal areas to protect biodiversity and society.   This presentation highlights our wide range of NBS study pilots and focuses on the differences in perceptions of the benefits and limitations across countries and regions. Each setting is unique in the readiness of the NBS technology and especially in the societal acceptance and institutional embedding of NBS. The site-specific contexts highlight different barriers and enablers for mainstreaming when viewing NBS pilot through the lens of the enablers. However, also several common themes become apparent. An example of such a theme is the interplay, and sometimes friction, between flood risk management and nature legislation.