land ecosystems and coastal ecosystems, for sustainable use and management of
theses ecosystems as well as reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (https://
sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu¼1300) (focusing on SDG 6, 13, 14, 15);
(2) support sustainable growth in rural, coastal and marine sectors by fostering
cross-sectoral collaborations; and (3) develop links between EU WFD, MFD and
CAP by developing policy alternatives for coastal-rural areas. The COASTAL
project adopts a strong iterative participatory multi-actor, bottom-up approach
based on collaboration between rural, coastal and sea stakeholders via Multi-Actor
Labs (MALs) centred around six selected coastal regions (in Belgium, Sweden,
Romania, Greece, Spain and France) with both common and unique opportunities
and challenges. The methodology and tools used combine local and scientific
knowledge to explore and analyse social, environmental and economic land-sea
interactions in a collaborative System Dynamics framework to identify problems and
develop practical and robust business road maps and strategic policy guidelines to
improve land-sea synergies and coastal-rural collaborations.
Keywords COASTAL · Source-to-sea approach · SDGs · Rural sustainable
growth · Multi-actor · Bottom-up approach
7.1 The Need to Increase Land-Sea Synergies
7.1.1 Coastal Areas and Rural Hinterland
Nearly 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 km of the coast. Coastal areas
experience higher population density, higher population growth associated with
global trend of coastal migration and higher urbanization (most of the world’s
megacities are located in the coastal zone cf. Brown et al. 2013) than the hinterland
(Small and Nicholls 2003; Smith 2011; McGranahan et al. 2007). Coastal areas are
also economically highly dynamic, with a high concentration of activities (on land
and at sea) and a generally lower unemployment rate (in half of EU coastal regions,
unemployment is lower than the national average
1 ). Coastal zones are generally
driven by a strong tourism industry in constant growth (in regions such as the
Mediterranean, tourism activities represent 11% of regional GDP and 11% of total
employment
2 ). In addition to tourism, coastal areas also benefit from increased
maritime activity (shipping, fishing, mining, offshore renewable energies, aquaculture). In contrast, the global phenomena of industrialization and urbanization create
1 Eurostat regional yearbook 2011 – Coastal region, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/
3217494/5728589/KS-HA-11-001-13-EN.PDF/c0dd33ed-0db2-4d8b-ae03-26d9bf3e57fc?
version¼1.0
2 Plan Bleu paper n
17, Tourism, May 2017, http://planbleu.org/sites/default/files/publications/
cahier17_tourisme_en_web.pdf
106
E. Akinsete et al.
theses ecosystems as well as reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (https://
sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu¼1300) (focusing on SDG 6, 13, 14, 15);
(2) support sustainable growth in rural, coastal and marine sectors by fostering
cross-sectoral collaborations; and (3) develop links between EU WFD, MFD and
CAP by developing policy alternatives for coastal-rural areas. The COASTAL
project adopts a strong iterative participatory multi-actor, bottom-up approach
based on collaboration between rural, coastal and sea stakeholders via Multi-Actor
Labs (MALs) centred around six selected coastal regions (in Belgium, Sweden,
Romania, Greece, Spain and France) with both common and unique opportunities
and challenges. The methodology and tools used combine local and scientific
knowledge to explore and analyse social, environmental and economic land-sea
interactions in a collaborative System Dynamics framework to identify problems and
develop practical and robust business road maps and strategic policy guidelines to
improve land-sea synergies and coastal-rural collaborations.
Keywords COASTAL · Source-to-sea approach · SDGs · Rural sustainable
growth · Multi-actor · Bottom-up approach
7.1 The Need to Increase Land-Sea Synergies
7.1.1 Coastal Areas and Rural Hinterland
Nearly 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 km of the coast. Coastal areas
experience higher population density, higher population growth associated with
global trend of coastal migration and higher urbanization (most of the world’s
megacities are located in the coastal zone cf. Brown et al. 2013) than the hinterland
(Small and Nicholls 2003; Smith 2011; McGranahan et al. 2007). Coastal areas are
also economically highly dynamic, with a high concentration of activities (on land
and at sea) and a generally lower unemployment rate (in half of EU coastal regions,
unemployment is lower than the national average
1 ). Coastal zones are generally
driven by a strong tourism industry in constant growth (in regions such as the
Mediterranean, tourism activities represent 11% of regional GDP and 11% of total
employment
2 ). In addition to tourism, coastal areas also benefit from increased
maritime activity (shipping, fishing, mining, offshore renewable energies, aquaculture). In contrast, the global phenomena of industrialization and urbanization create
1 Eurostat regional yearbook 2011 – Coastal region, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/
3217494/5728589/KS-HA-11-001-13-EN.PDF/c0dd33ed-0db2-4d8b-ae03-26d9bf3e57fc?
version¼1.0
2 Plan Bleu paper n
17, Tourism, May 2017, http://planbleu.org/sites/default/files/publications/
cahier17_tourisme_en_web.pdf
106
E. Akinsete et al.