Low elevation coastal zones (LECZ, areas below 10 m above sea level) are among the most dynamic, densely populated, and intensively managed environments on Earth. They support major population centres, agricultural production, ecosystems and industries. At the same time, they are increasingly exposed to hazards due to accelerating global change, including sea-level rise, changing storm surge and precipitation regimes, heat waves, land subsidence and morphological changes of estuaries, deltas and open coasts.
These pressures create interconnected challenges for water management, infrastructure design and ecosystem stewardship, driving adaptation needs. LECZ are at the interface between terrestrial hydrology and marine dynamics, where flood protection, lowland drainage, freshwater availability, saltwater intrusion, nutrient loads, sediment transport and ecological functioning are governed by the interactions of catchment and coastal processes. However, scientific understanding, modelling approaches and management practices often treat landward and seaward processes separately. Taking a systems perspective is essential for assessing compound and multi-hazard risks, identifying adaptation options and supporting decision-making in LECZs.
This session welcomes contributions that improve system and process understanding, develop monitoring and modelling approaches and support decision making in LECZs across spatial and temporal scales, from local case studies to regional, continental, and global assessments. Contributions addressing data gaps and novel approaches for infrastructure design are encouraged.
We invite submissions on topics including, but not limited to:
i) Monitoring, understanding and characterising processes and hazards in LECZs
ii) Process-based, statistical, hybrid and data-driven modelling approaches for coastal catchment systems, water resources, compound and multi-hazard drivers, estuarine and deltaic dynamics and groundwater-surface-water-sea interactions.
iii) Tools and frameworks supporting integrated water management, infrastructure design and adaptation