Two decades ago, erosion had already impacted 20% of European coasts. Today, traditional approaches to engineering have further exacerbated natural area loss, increasing submersion and erosion risks.
The Ad’Apto project promoted community engagement, landscape understanding, and nature-based solutions to raise awareness of the problem and explore new approaches that support decision-making for sustainable coastal management.
As a potential solution, this pioneering project reconnected polders to the sea, maximising the capabilities of marine habitats to reduce hazard risks. In addition to monitoring biodiversity, it performed social perception studies and in-depth economic analyses on the benefits of erosion management, weighing up the pros and cons of adaptive coastal management vs. engineering.
