Project
REST-COAST – Large Scale RESToration of COASTal Ecosystems through Rivers to Sea Connectivity
The REST-COAST project demonstrates that upscaled coastal restoration can provide a low-carbon footprint solution for climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction for threatened coastal systems, combined with gains in their biodiversity and ecosystem services delivery.
This solution is based on a “Restoration Revolution” to overcome current obstacles and improve coastal restoration interventions through new technical, financial, management and transfer tools, aligned with the needs of vulnerable coastal regions and society.
During the project, hands-on restoration actions are developed in nine pilot sites, with different ecosystems and socioeconomic and governance situations to improve coastal restoration practices and techniques.
On the one hand, REST-COAST generates data and new modelling tools to assess risk reduction at different climate change levels to provide consistent risk estimates across time scales and lower financial, social and political barriers to large-scale restoration. On the other hand, innovative and sustainable financial arrangements and business plans are being designed for restoration upscaling.
With the results of the project, REST-COAST will develop a scalable plan for coastal adaptation through large-scale restoration based on trade-offs and synergies between biodiversity and socio-economic development, aiming for financially viable solutions incorporating climate-resilient ecosystem services.
In addition, innovative governance arrangements and policies will be co-designed to overcome present barriers to large-scale restoration and promote transformative changes in governance at all levels, from local to national to EU level.
Finally, the REST-COAST project supports social the Green Deal social transformation and engagement through a new digital platform dashboard, a carbon footprint counter, and a new app and video game on the decarbonisation of coastal adaptation.
The REST-COAST consortium, led by the Marine Engineering Laboratory (LIM) of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and in which Eurecat participates through the Climate Change Line of the Sustainability Area leading the implementation of the activities of restoration to the different pilots of the project, is made up of 38 organisations from 11 different countries.
