Episode 1 - Why Coastal Resilience Matters: A Historical and Systemic Perspective

00:00:10: Imagine this!

00:00:11: You are on a beach.

00:00:13: In front of you, Golden Sands meets the ocean.

00:00:17: Behind you half cliffs covered with native vegetation... ...you hear the wind fill the pool of tide watch surface waiting for next wave.

00:00:28: This landscape feels timeless almost untouchable.

00:00:35: But this Beach isn't a postcard A beach.

00:00:39: every beach is a living dynamic coastal system.

00:00:44: Cliffs are reshaped by rain and waves, tides rise and fall current and winds redraw the coastline.

00:00:54: now imagine this balance being pushed beyond its limits.

00:00:59: unplanned urban growth removes vegetation from the cliffs buildings and roads settle on a stable ground And most importantly sea level rises.

00:01:09: storms intensify and erosion accelerates.

00:01:14: What began as small change, such a collapsing cliff or damaged reef can over time threaten livelihood tourism and the very identity of this place?

00:01:27: All over the world extreme situations like these are increasing places we love so exposed that they can't change overnight.

00:01:35: So now the question is not whether coastal will change.

00:01:38: Of course!

00:01:40: They'll change again.

00:01:42: The question is whether we are prepared.

00:01:49: There are scientists, institutions and communities working every day to protect coastal environments.

00:01:55: But protecting doesn't mean freezing them in time.

00:01:59: Protecting means helping them adapt, resist or recover.

00:02:05: In this podcast We will tell you the stories And efforts of those who work to protect what they love.

00:02:15: My name is Federica Orsi.

00:02:17: This is Green Tides a podcast by the Decade Collaborative Centre for Costa Resilience about people, science and ideas that are shaping the future of our coasts.

00:02:40: Costa resilience – That might sound technical but as you'll soon discover it's deeply human concept!

00:02:48: So has recent scientific literature suggests?

00:02:52: Costa resilience is the capacity both social-economic and natural systems in coastal environments to cope with disturbances, such as climate change by adapting while maintaining their essential functions.

00:03:08: I wish to emphasize that natural and such economic systems both are equally important.

00:03:15: the goal here is to maintain functionality not necessarily to return to the exact state as before.

00:03:23: over the next few episodes we'll explore how this actually happens.

00:03:32: Twenty or thirty years ago, Costa Resilience wasn't even part of our vocabulary.

00:03:38: It's only recent years that this term entered our everyday conversation.

00:03:44: Well maybe not your conversation but ours Here at DCCCR are all about these topics.

00:03:53: Oh wait a moment.

00:03:54: I know another difficult word But don't worry it is easy to understand.

00:04:00: DCCCR stands for Decade Collaborative Centre for Costa Resilience.

00:04:06: To tell you more about it, we spoke with Professor Nadia Pinardi.

00:04:11: My name is Nadia Pinardi and I'm the director of the Decade collaborative centre for Costa resilience

00:04:18: and

00:04:19: a professor of oceanography at the University of Bologna.

00:04:22: The Decade collaboration center was created within the framework of United Nations Ocean Decade to support a global effort.

00:04:35: Our role is to connect science, education technology and communities helping Costa Resilience move from concept-to-real world action.

00:04:50: At this point we need to understand why are here today talking about the topic?

00:04:57: So get ready fasten your seat belt because we are about to travel back in time, in the early nineties.

00:05:05: The world was changing fast!

00:05:08: The Cold War had just ended.

00:05:10: Globalization was accelerating.

00:05:13: Music culture and information were crossing borders more easily than ever before.

00:05:20: In those same years something else became impossible to ignore Environmental problems didn't stop at national borders.

00:05:29: Climate, oceans and ecosystems connect countries that might be politically distant but environmentally inseparable.

00:05:42: It's nineteen ninety-two and we are in Rio de Janeiro But sadly We haven't traveled back in time to join the carnival or parties on the beach?

00:05:52: We're here now to join representatives from one hundred seventy two countries gather from what would become one of the most important environmental conferences in history.

00:06:04: So everything started really at a real summit, it was the first one and established that sustainable development, environmental protection and economic development were together.

00:06:21: In order to achieve economic development That will last in time we needed to understand human impact on the environment.

00:06:34: Now, We can finally realize what we promised at Rio in nineteen ninety-two!

00:06:41: We can use knowledge To prevent damage of our oceans.

00:06:51: For a long time Costa Resilias did not make its way into the sustainable development goals.

00:06:59: And even now, the concept of cost resilience is difficult to find in goal.

00:07:04: thirteen and fourteen.

00:07:06: One reason that until a decade ago

00:07:11: science

00:07:11: was very fragmented and not multidisciplinary enough To solve the problem of cost-resilience.

00:07:21: Cost resilience requires geologists, biologists, physicists social scientists, economists to come together and try to solve the full problem of human interactions with the ocean at the coast.

00:07:40: In the past we had a major advancement which is called Operation Oceanography that conducted us on the right direction to try and solve coastal resilience problems.

00:07:55: Operational sonography is like meteorology, and weather predictions.

00:08:01: It's an organized system of observations and models That every day gives a situation around the world And then taking this approach year after year we get what the climate is and how we are modifying the climate, And How We Can Prevent This Modification If It Is Negative.

00:08:29: But COSR resilience is only marginally mentioned and it's taken decades for this concept to mature Within the UN Ocean Decade.

00:08:38: Challenge Six will focus specifically on increasing community resilience towards an hazard.

00:08:44: To better understand Let's return to our present and hear what Professor Pinardi has.

00:09:16: We need to always join science and monitoring, To be able solve the problem of coastal resilience.

00:09:28: Thanks to Professor Pinardi we have discovered that Coastal Resilience needs a multidisciplinary approach to face challenges That are impacting the coastal environment And human activities that developed there.

00:09:48: We involved two more guests.

00:09:50: The first is Professor Elena Fabri.

00:09:53: My name is Elena Fabry, I'm a marine physiologist and at the moment i am head of Department of Biological Geological and Environmental Science at University of Bologna.

00:10:06: Professor Fabri will tell us about pollution and how it affects coastal ecosystems.

00:10:12: Pollution can seriously awaken the resilience of coastal ecosystems that is their ability to resist damage and recover after disturbances like storms, warming water or human activity.

00:10:26: And pollutants like heavy metals microplastics that we know now accumulate in organisms move up the food chain.

00:10:34: this can impair reproduction growth and survival across multiple species destabilizing the entire ecosystem.

00:10:43: Also, low levels of persistent pollution impose chronic stress on living organisms forcing them to spend resources particularly energy just to survive.

00:10:54: this reduce their ability of ecosystems to cope with awkward shocks such as rising temperature ocean acidification or storms.

00:11:04: so cleaner ecosystems are stronger and more stable but not just because they are less damaged, but because they retain the internal capacity to respond, adapt and rebuild after disturbance.

00:11:22: So can pollution reduction increase the capacity of coastal ecosystem to recover after extreme events?

00:11:30: Actually reducing pollution is one of most effective ways to restore resilience.

00:11:37: Pollution obliged plants and animals to spend energy on detoxification stress responses, and repair mechanisms.

00:11:47: When pollution is reduced that energy is released can be redirected towards growth reproduction and rebuilding population.

00:11:56: The second voice who will tell us more about the challenges that COSA Resilience is facing is Professor Greta Tellarini.

00:12:04: My name is Greta Tellarini and I am full professor of navigation and transport law at the legal department of the University of Bologna.

00:12:13: The first thing we ask her, how could the Law on the Sea contribute to Costa Resilience Strategies?

00:12:22: The Laws of the Sea mainly set out in the United Nations Convention on the Law over the Sea you enclose plays a primary role in shaping coastal resilience strategies because it defines who has authority, what rights exist and what obligations states have in marine and coastal areas.

00:12:47: This means that governments have a legal basis to include actions such as protecting coastlines managing ecosystems and planning for climate impacts light sea level rise and stronger storms.

00:13:04: It is important because many coastal and marine problems such as the pollution or climate risks do not stop at a national point, however you enclosed also has an important limits.

00:13:19: it was created before climate change became major global issue.

00:13:24: so does not clearly address problems like rising sea levels or how maritime boundaries might change over

00:13:35: time.

00:13:37: Professor Terlarini speaks on new agreements and updated approaches, but what kind of legislative frameworks are needed today to effectively support coastal resilience?

00:13:49: Effective coastal resilience today requires legal frameworks that both integrated and forward-looking.

00:13:58: Instead of having fragmented rules for different sectors, legislation should create a unified system that connects spatial planning climate adaptation and environmental protection.

00:14:16: at the same time The law should recognize the protective role and ensure they are preserved, restored as part of planning strategies.

00:14:28: A strong framework should also include risk assessment on-goid monitoring and preparedness measures to reduce the impact off extreme events.

00:14:42: Finally decision making process

00:14:44: should be transparent

00:14:46: and involved with public.

00:14:53: Coastal resilience is not about preserving coastlines exactly as they were.

00:14:59: It's about ensuring that coastal systems continue to function under change, it's about knowledge governance and science that support decisions.

00:15:11: If you are curious how these ideas take shape in real projects collaboration and actions around the world stay connected with work of the DCCCR.

00:15:22: You can subscribe to our newsletter or visit our website through the link in the episode description.

00:15:31: In this first episode we've traced where these journey began, and next will take you around a world!

00:15:38: We'll meet scientists students and communities working on the front lines of the coastal change To see how different communities with support from DCCR are responding new challenges facing the ocean and coast.

00:15:54: So, follow the podcast on your favorite app And click on that bell to get a notification every time A new episode is out!

00:16:04: Until next time.

00:16:05: Protect & respect our coastal Ocean.

00:16:15: Green Tides is a podcast by DCCCR Decade Collaborative Center for Coastal Resilience Produced by POTSAR Narrator Federica Orsi.

00:16:26: Writing Lorenzo Molino Sound Design – Antonio Mezzadra Graphics – Laura Fracasso Producer – Esther Memeo Special thanks to CMCC, Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change, Herion and Deltores.