Innovative Multi-Functional and Integrated Solutions for Coastal Adaptation

Dear Colleagues,

Large coastal stretches, which are highly populated and economically essential, are threatened by coastal erosion and flooding, whose frequency and severity is increased by climate change and sea-level rise. Responding to disasters and enhancing resilience to extreme events needs a holistic, participatory, and interdisciplinary approach that should focus on how to operationalize the concept of resilience by the analysis, advance, development, testing, and integration of a wide range of complementary adaptation and mitigation measures. In recent years, greater attention had been paid to the design and selection of coastal defense structures and technologies based on an integrated analysis of their performance and on their environmental and socio-economic implications. Defense design should be aimed at providing “continuity of daily life”—before, during and after a flood, to avoid the detrimental social and economic impact that would otherwise result. A development that intrinsically provides flood resilience, through an adequate defense planning strategy, should give insurers and financiers the confidence to offer affordable, long-term policies and investments.

This Special Issue invites authors to submit original articles dedicated to innovative solutions for a multifunctional, integrated approach to the management and protection of coastal areas. The innovative technologies include: (i) multifunctional breakwaters to combine the coastal protection with the production of marine renewable energy or with leisure activities (e.g., artificial reefs, promenades); (ii) ecocompatible sediment management for beach maintenance (e.g.m “Sand Engine”, “Mud Motor”, beach drainage); (iii) ecosystem enhancement through the restoration and/or creation of habitats such as sand dunes or biogenic reefs or buffer areas; (iv) actions to reduce the impact on society and economy including insurance frameworks, risk communication and landscape planning; (v) quasi-real-time monitoring and surveillance systems through autonomous vehicles, drones, satellite imaging; and (vi) interdisciplinary modelling frameworks to support defense planning.

Prof. Dr. Barbara Zanuttigh
Prof. Dr. Alice Newton
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Adaptation
• Climate change
• Coastal flood
• Innovative management
• Multifunctional structures
• Risk assessment
• Ecosystems
• Social awareness
• Sea level rise
• Storm surge