Step-by-Step Strategies to Tackle Coastal Erosion: Insights from Calabaia Beach (Calabria, Italy)

Coastal areas globally are invaluable assets and strategic resources from both environmental and social perspectives, as well as for the sustainable development of the marine economy, often referred to as “Blue Growth”. This understanding highlights the crucial need to protect coastal areas from climate change phenomena such as sea-level rise, flooding, and erosion. Previous research has shown the high vulnerability of the Mediterranean Sea's coasts to these phenomena, with ecosystems and biodiversity increasingly under threat. Despite past efforts to address these issues, many aspects still require further investigation, and solutions necessitate a holistic approach and a step-by-step strategy. Our research contributes to this context by providing valuable insights from Calabaia Beach (Calabria, Italy), where specific step-by-step strategies were implemented to mitigate erosion processes and restore the coastal and marine environment. The research site, located within the Marine Experimental Station of Capo Tirone (Belvedere Marittimo, Calabria, Italy), is of significant relevance as it has experienced various sea-defense interventions over the years, ranging from hard defenses to soft defenses, to the adoption of nature-based solutions. This study highlights that investigating the efficacy of these interventions over time can offer essential insights into the potential of each to sustainably curb erosion processes. From this standpoint, practitioners can establish a solid foundation to predict how future interventions for tackling erosion could effectively impact the entire coastal ecosystem of the area. Moreover, our research suggests that a step-by-step approach could be implemented also for aspects related to local hydrodynamics, pollutant dispersion, seawater intrusion, and marine biology. The case study of Calabaia Beach clearly illustrates that a time-dependent strategy could be successfully applied when there is a need to balance coastal environmental protection with social interests and the development of “Blue Growth”. This approach could be further explored in other case studies, keeping in mind that the specific characteristics of the area represent a determining factor.

Acknowledgements. This research was supported by ”NAUTILOS” project (GA 101000825) and by the Next Generation EU - Italian NRRP, Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.5, call for the creation and strengthening of ’Innovation Ecosystems’, building ’Territorial R&D Leaders’ (D. D. 2021/3277) - project Tech4You, n. ECS0000009. This work reflects only the authors’ views and opinions, neither the Ministry for University and Research nor the European Commission can be considered responsible for them.