Integrated water resources and coastal zone management in European lagoons in the context of climate change (LAGOONS)

The environmental issue of concern of the LAGOONS project is the anthropogenic deterioration and climate change impacts (especially the effects of extreme weather event) on surface water and lagoons ecosystems. The main objective of the LAGOONS project is to contribute to a science-based seamless strategy – in an integrated and coordinated fashion – of the management of lagoons seen under the land-sea and science-policy-stakeholder interface; i.e., the project seeks to underpin the integration of the EU Water Framework Directive, Habitat Directive, the EU’s ICZM Recommendation, and the EU Marine Strategy Directive.

Four case study lagoons have been selected to represent a set of “hotspot” coastal lagoons with a wide and balanced geographical distribution and different characteristics: Vistula Lagoon in Baltic Sea (transboundary Poland/Russia); Tylygulskyi Lagoon in Black Sea (Ukraine); Ria de Aveiro Lagoon in Atlantic Ocean (Portugal), and Mar Menor in the Mediterranean Sea (Spain). By means of elaborating integrated strategies for sustainable development of the case study lagoons in the climate change context, the LAGOONS project aims to demonstrate that it is possible to enhance connectivity between research and policy-making using a proactive approach to water issues.