Climate Change Adaptation and Integrated Coastal Zone Management: Ecosystem Services, Coastal Sustainability and Resilience

Dear Colleagues,

Coastal zones are among the most vulnerable and strategically important socio-ecological systems in the context of climate change. They concentrate population, infrastructure, productive activities, cultural heritage and biodiversity, while being increasingly exposed to sea-level rise, coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion, marine heatwaves, extreme weather events, and the degradation of ecosystem services. These pressures interact with long-standing human drivers such as urbanisation, tourism, maritime transport, fisheries, aquaculture, pollution, and competing uses of coastal and marine space. At the same time, coastal areas represent key places where natural capital, human well-being, and socio-economic development are closely interconnected.

In this context, climate change adaptation cannot only be addressed through isolated technical measures or emergency responses; it requires integrated approaches that are able to recognise the value of coastal ecosystems, maintain ecosystem services, and support sustainable development pathways. Natural capital is not merely an environmental asset, but a foundation for local economies, community resilience, food security, risk reduction, and quality of life. Understanding these relationships is essential to design adaptation measures that are environmentally sound, socially inclusive, and economically viable.

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) provides a strategic framework to connect these dimensions. By linking scientific knowledge, monitoring systems, stakeholder participation, spatial planning, and policy implementation, ICZM can help us to translate evidence into effective and measurable policies. It can also support the assessment of adaptation measures in terms of ecological effectiveness, socio-economic benefits, governance coherence, and long-term sustainability.

This Special Issue aims to present and disseminate recent advances related to climate change adaptation, natural capital, sustainable coastal development, and Integrated Coastal Zone Management. We welcome conceptual, methodological, empirical, and policy-oriented contributions that explore tools, indicators, governance frameworks, decision-support systems, and practical experiences that are able to guide and monitor resilient and integrated coastal transitions. Contributions should explicitly address the relationship between climate change and coastal zones, with particular attention on how adaptation challenges, ecosystem changes, socio-economic dynamics, and governance responses interact in coastal and marine socio-ecological systems.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: climate change adaptation in coastal zones; ICZM and coastal governance for climate-resilient coasts; natural capital and ecosystem services in the context of climate change; coastal resilience and vulnerability assessment; nature-based solutions for coastal adaptation and risk reduction; land–sea interactions under changing climatic conditions; sustainable socio-economic development in climate-exposed coastal areas; monitoring indicators and decision-support tools for coastal adaptation; stakeholder participation and science–policy interfaces for climate-resilient coastal management; and policy integration for resilient coastal futures.

Dr. Vincenzo Maccarrone
Guest Editor

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• climate change adaptation
• Integrated Coastal Zone Management
• coastal resilience
• natural capital
• ecosystem services
• sustainable coastal development
• nature-based solutions
• coastal governance
• land–sea interactions
• science–policy interface