The Horizon Europe COAST-SCAPES project held its first Annual Meeting in Venice, marking an important milestone in strengthening collaboration across its pilot regions and publishing its first policy brief, which outlines the priorities for more integrated and effective climate adaptation.
From 26 to 28 October 2026, nearly 60 partners from across the COAST-SCAPES consortium met on San Servolo Island in Venice, Italy, for the project's first Annuel Meeting. Hosted by CORILA, the three-day gathering offered an opportunity to review progress from the project's first year, exchange experiences from its diverse pilot regions and discuss priorities for the work ahead.
One of the notable results achieved during the initial project stage has been the publication of the COAST-SCAPES first policy brief, Building climate resilience across land-coast-sea systems. Developed through the collaborative efforts of CORILA, GeoEcoMar, Pensoft Publishers and members across the project's pilot site areas, the brief brings together emerging project knowledge and translates it into policy recommendations for addressing the interconnected challenges facing coastal environments. An important aspect of the publication and for the project in general, is the fact that it builds on valuable experience from the Horizon 2020 REST-COAST project, a recently completed research initiative. Within the Venice Lagoon, COAST-SCAPES continues this legacy through stakeholder engagement, while further advancing modelling, resilience planning and approaches for the long-term financing of adaptation measures.
Drawing on experiences from the project's pilot regions, including Mar Menor, Venice Lagoon and the Wadden Sea–Weser Estuary, the brief outlines six policy priorities. These include establishing permanent science-policy interfaces, strengthening integrated land-coast-sea planning, mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions into adaptation policies, improving resilience assessment frameworks, supporting long-term financing and facilitating knowledge transfer between regions. The recommendations reflect a central ambition of COAST-SCAPES to connect scientific understanding and practical experience with the policy processes needed to support lasting climate resilience.
This ambition was also reflected throughout the discussions within the COAST-SCAPES first annual gathering, where partners explored how the different areas of project work connect and complement one another. In a broader scope, COAST-SCAPES’ pilot and case study areas span diverse geographical and environmental contexts, from the Vietnamese Mekong Delta to Colombia's Magdalena River Delta, as such, they bring together experiences that can offer valuable insights beyond individual regions. Understanding these differences, while identifying common challenges and transferable solutions, is essential to strengthening resilience across coastal landscapes.
A highlight of the meeting was a field visit to the northern part of the Venice Lagoon, jointly organised by CORILA, the University of Padua, Ca' Foscari University of Venice and SELC Società Cooperativa. The visit provided partners with first-hand insights into the measures being implemented to strengthen the resilience of Venice and its lagoon. Participants explored local salt marshes and wetlands, learned about the relationship between the lagoon and its drainage basin and visited the MOSE system, a major piece of electromechanical infrastructure designed to protect Venice from exceptional high tides.
Beyond reviewing progress and exchanging technical knowledge, the Annual Meeting reinforced the importance of maintaining connections between the project's pilot regions and creating opportunities for them to learn from one another. This is particularly relevant to the work on the transferability and replication of resilience solutions, which includes developing a network through which pilot sites can exchange experiences and make knowledge about effective approaches openly accessible.
As COAST-SCAPES moves into its next phase, the combination of scientific collaboration, practical experience and policy engagement will remain central to its efforts. The publication of the first policy brief and the discussions held during the first Annual Meeting represent important steps in this direction, bringing the project closer to its overarching goal of supporting more integrated and sustainable approaches to climate resilience across land, coastal and marine environments.
COAST-SCAPES receives funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101213138. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the EU nor REA can be held responsible for them.