Why Do We Decide to Live with Risk at the Coast?

Publication: Article
Citation: Costas S., Ferreira ,O., Martinez, G., Why do we decide to live with risk at the coast? In: Ocean and Coastal Management, available online 30 May 2015, In Press.

In the article "Why do we decide to live with risk at the coast?" recently published in "Ocean and Coastal Management", Dr. Grit Martinez of Ecologic Institute and Susana Costas and Prof. Oscar Ferreira of the University of Algarve explore risk perception in a community found in the vulnerable coastal region, Praia de Faro, on the southern coast of Portugal. The study addresses the identification of factors shaping risk perception and the reasons leading to settlement of high-risk coastal areas.

The selected community consists of two different populations (a fishermen community and a tourism-related community) sharing the risk associated with storm impacts and coastal retreat. For that, the authors examine the socio-economic and environmental frameworks and run a set of in depth interviews to provide a frame for understanding the culture of risk in a system with multiple stakeholders and planned measures of relocation. The investigations was done under the scheme of the FP7 project RISC-KIT (Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts – toolkit. RISC-KIT project website (link is external).

Interviews in Praia de Faro suggest that citizens using the beach as their first residence have voluntarily accepted to live with risk in the beach in exchange for a series of related benefits that they find to largely exceed expected personal damages. Risk perception analysis found that the community is aware about the hazards impacting the area, but they are not worried or prepared to face likely levels of risk derived from the impact of storms estimated by experts. Characteristics of risk perception seem shaped by place attachment, underestimation of impact probability and lessons learnt, and inherent cultural aspects. In addition, it seems clear that imposed measures of relocation are contributing to reduce residents risk perception in an attempt to ensure their permanence in the area in a frame of institutional distrust and absence of genuine communication. Alternative measures to relocation can only exist if responsibilities in risk mitigation are reconsidered and shared. The abstract is online available.

The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating?!

7 - 9 June 2023
Dr. Grit Martinez

Publication:Article

This paper deals with how culture is expressed through the interplay of socially, politically, and economically driven processes and practices in place-based biophysical contexts as well as the role played by narrative expressions in the formation of coastal risk management, knowledge and action. It draws upon ethnographic, comparative, and historical approaches to understand how culture frames what we know and how we respond differently to risks.

Coastal Risk Cultures

Local and Regional Formation of Knowledge and Action

Year 2021

Publication:Book

There is a growing impetus among policy makers and practitioners to support and empower capacities of communities under changing climatic conditions. Despite this there is little systematic understanding of why approaches work at local levels or not and what makes some communities resilient and others less so. Authors addressing this shortcoming by providing illustrative case studies and assessment tools from Europe’s North, East and South helping to bridge the gap between climate change policies, decision-making and the cultural traits of communities in Europe.

Culture and Climate Resilience: Perspectives from Europe

Year 2021

Publication:Report

Introduction to the RISC-KIT Web Based Management Guide for DRR in European Coastal Zones

Year 2017

Publication:Article

The article illustrates both the potential and challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration amongst researchers from the social sciences/humanities and the natural sciences/engineering in formulating disaster risk reduction measures for coastal regions. The authors, among them Ecologic Institute's Grit Martinez, share their experiences of working across different scientific and engineering disciplines in the EU project RISC-KIT to co-produce disaster risk reduction measures suitable for specific regional and local contexts, in this case two coastal study areas in Europe (Porto Garibaldi, Italy and Rio Formosa, Portugal). The article is available for download.

Experiences and Results from Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Utilizing Qualitative Information to Formulate Disaster Risk Reduction Measures for Coastal Regions

Year 2018

Publication:Article

This study presents information about the storms in 1872 and 1904 that occurred along the coast of Scania that is analysed with respect to the evolution of risk awareness, vulnerability, and societies' resilience over time. The article, to which Dr. Grit Martinez from Ecologic Institute contributed, is available for download.

The Role of Historical Storm Events in Risk Analysis

A study of the coastal flood events in 1872 and 1904 along the South and East Coast of Scania, Sweden, Vatten.

Year 2017

Publication:Report

This Synthesis Report provides an overview of the achievements, lessons learned and challenges identified through the RISC-KIT project activities, including the development and application of the tools at ten case study sites in a range of coastal regions across Europe. The lessons learned are then fed into a series of recommendations for improved DRR for Europe and beyond. The resulting insights and accompanying recommendations have been considered in relation to their relevance to EU and international processes that both directly and indirectly address coastal DRR. The RISC-KIT Synthesis Report is available for download.

RISC-KIT Synthesis Report

Year 2017

Publication:Policy Brief

Europe's coastlines are a product of human cultivation. Since settling on the coast, humans have engineered the coastal characteristics to suit the purposes of states, the economy and human recreation. At the time of the Treaties of Rome, Europe had just emerged from the devastating aftermath of the Second World War with a 'great hunger' for a liberal life style, leisure activities and travel. The diverse and scenic views of Europe's coasts offered the ideal destination for such endeavors. Soon, a rapid coastal urbanization coupled with a steady increase in mass tourism emerged. Spurred by the trust in technical and engineering capacities, new bold attitudes about building and living on the sea often interfered with the natural sediment transport of coastal systems, leading to erosion. Today, more than 42% of Europeans live in coastal regions with coastal infrastructure worth about 959 billion EURO. Recent and historic high-impact storm events have demonstrated that weather events pose a significant risk and can immobilize cities and countries. The FP7 project, Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts – toolKIT (RISC-KIT), recently issued a policy brief to communicate lessons learned and to support the dissemination of tools, which coastal managers to improve coastal resilience in Europe and elsewhere.

Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies in EU Coastal Areas

Recommendation for EU, National, and Regional Policy Makers

Year 2017

Publication:Report

The RISC-KIT Web-based Management Guide is one of the five RISC-KIT tools designed to highlight key principles recommended for the planning of local DRR measures using examples from the case studies and elsewhere to provide practical illustrations. It is intended to give guidance to coastal managers in Europe and those facing similar challenges beyond the region as well as other groups concerned with coastal management (i.e. coastal resource users, technical and scientific experts and policy makers). The guide includes prevention, mitigation, protection and preparedness measures with recommendations for their use in various socio-economic, cultural and environmental settings. The RISC-KIT Web-based Management Guide is available for download.

Web-based Management Guide

Year 2017

Language

English

Authorship

Dr. Grit Martinez

Susana Costas

Oscar Ferreira

Published in

Journal: Ocean & Coastal Management

Published by

Elsevier, International

Year

2015

ISSN

0964-5691

DOI

10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.05.015

Project

Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts – toolKIT (RISC-KIT)

Project ID

Table of contents

Click to show full table of contents

Keywords

Risk perception, Culture, Environmental History, Stakeholders, Coastal erosion, Coastal hazards,

Praia de Faro, Portugal

Further Links

Publication: Potential prevention, mitigation and preparedness measures for each case

Project Website: RISC-KIT

ProjectFP 7Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts – toolKIT (RISC-KIT)

Climate change is leading to increased vulnerability of coastal areas as coastal storms, sea level rise and flooding cause significant impacts across Europe. Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts – toolKIT (RISC-KIT) is a four-year European research project aimed... Read more

Resilience-Increasing Strategies for Coasts – toolKIT (RISC-KIT)

Duration: Nov 2013 - Apr 2017
Funding: European Commission, Directorate-General Research & Innovation (DG Research & Innovation), International