Sustainable Blue Economy for the Future: Coastal Climate Resilience and Coastal Engineering

Dear Colleagues,

Aim:

The aim of this Special Issue is to publish coastal and maritime research and innovation that improves our knowledge of the ocean and its ecosystems in supporting the development of a sustainable blue economy. It emphasises stepping up coastal engineering practices for enhancing coastal climate resilience and driving sustainable innovation.

Scope:

The effects of climate change and variability are already having a huge impact on coastal communities worldwide. Flooding, storms and coastal erosion are obvious hazards, but climate change impacts on coastal communities can take many forms and trigger cascading effects on related social, economic and ecological systems. Social well-being and critical infrastructure, as well as all of the economic and recreation activities being developed in coastal areas, can be at risk, and so we must build coastal resilience more quickly and comprehensively.

We are interested in publishing fundamental research and case studies combining practical applications with innovative technological and scientific approaches, such as mathematical and numerical modelling, laboratory and field observations and experiments, which focus on developing and implementing adaptation solutions to help reduce climate-related risk, increase the climate protection and safety of coastal communities and protect and restore marine ecosystems. We think valuable contributions could also be made in relation to governance and finance options and instruments for ecosystem-based adaptation.

Research and innovation are essential for driving and achieving a sustainable blue economy for the future. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews addressing the following aspects of coastal engineering and enhancing coastal climate resilience are welcome:

• Improving knowledge and managing uncertainty in coastal adaptation, e.g., translating the wealth of climate information available into customised tools, pushing the frontiers of adaptation knowledge, acquiring more and better climate-related risk and losses data;
• Improving the understanding of the interdependencies between climate change, coastal ecosystems and the services they deliver, e.g., innovative monitoring technologies and tools based on remote sensing, advanced ICT technologies and sensors, machine learning and artificial intelligence,;
• Engineering design guidelines and recommendations of nature-based solutions;
• Demonstrating and testing systemic solutions for upscaling coastal restoration to increase biodiversity and support ecosystem services;
• Showcasing how restoration activities enable sustainable, climate-neutral and -resilient, inclusive and transformative approaches will help coastal communities to adapt to changing climate conditions;
• Technological and non-technological instruments and tools for driving sustainable innovation;
• Adapting, integrating and demonstrating innovative methods (technological, non-technological, social and governance, including sustainable financing) for upscaling coastal ecosystem restoration;
• Empowering citizens and practitioners to co-design and co-implement coastal adaptation solutions for improving adaptation strategies and plans;
• Improving the understanding of the links between climate change policies and financing and multiple sustainable development objectives and pathways;
• Creating sustainable blue economy value chains and enabling simultaneous green and digital transitions.

Prof. Dr. Luciana das Neves
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• green recovery
• nature-based solutions
• climate-proof
• ecosystem services
• scaling-up of coastal ecosystem restoration
• sustainable blue economy
• just transition
• financing coastal climate resilience
• EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change
• Biodiversity Strategy for 2030