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Sustainable Management in Coastal Areas and Addressing the Challenges of Climate Change Risks

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 18 July 2026 | Viewed by 1913

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales (IECA), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
Interests: climate change vulnerability and adaptation; coastal and estuarine areas; climate risks; interdisciplinary climate studies; global environmental change
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Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Ecología del Paisaje, Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida 5115, Venezuela
Interests: climate change vulnerability; coastal and estuarine areas; climate risks; cumulative impacts; coastal landforms; satellite imagery applications

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Guest Editor
Instituto de Ecología y Ciencias Ambientales (IECA), Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
Interests: sea level rise; coastal and estuarine areas; climate risks; extreme weather events

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Guest Editor
1. Escuela de Sociología, Universidad del Zulia (LUZ), Avenida Goajira, Maracaibo 4002, Venezuela
2. Facultad de Humanidades y Educación, Universidad Privada Dr. Rafael Belloso Chacín (URBE), Prolongación Circunvalación 2, Maracaibo 4002, Venezuela
Interests: climate change adaptation; socio-environmental climate studies; artificial intelligence applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Coastal zones include lagoons, estuaries, cliffs, beaches, and dunes. Similar to the world’s most densely populated regions, coastlines are facing the impacts of climate change and ENSO-related variability, including sea level rise, warming, extreme weather events, flooding, and ocean acidification. In addition to these increasing climate-related stressors, human activities—including urbanisation, pollution, and biodiversity loss—have significantly impacted these fragile systems over the past few decades, affecting infrastructure, communities, habitats, and key economic sectors. Small Island Developing States (SIDSs) are particularly at risk.

Coastal systems can be resilient if they are allowed to recover from natural and human disturbances. Enhancing resilience requires innovative management, including nature-based solutions, community fisheries, and integrated approaches that consider ecosystem dynamics, human influences, and the roles of stakeholders. As coastlines are complex systems, global collaboration among researchers is essential for effective management.

We invite you to contribute to the development of effective solutions by submitting your manuscripts on climate change vulnerability, risks, impacts, adaptation, resilience, or coastal management. This Special Issue invites original research, reviews, and case studies on community efforts, government action, and technology. Please review our guidelines and upload your work via the submission portal. By contributing, you directly support progress in addressing pressing coastal challenges. Submit today and help drive impactful change.

Dr. Gustavo Nagy
Dr. Isabel C. Olivares
Dr. José E. Verocai
Dr. Isaías Lescher Soto
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

Keywords

  • coasts
  • climatic risks
  • adaptation
  • resilience and sustainability
  • estuaries
  • blue carbon
  • vulnerability
  • cumulative impacts
  • nature-based solutions

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 7222 KB  
Article
Assessment of Flood Hazard and Infrastructure Vulnerability Under Sea-Level Rise in Eastern Saudi Arabia: Implications of UN SDGs for Sustainable Cities
by Umar Lawal Dano, Antar A. Aboukorin, Faez S. Alshihri, Abdulrahman Alnaim, Fahad Almutlaq, Rehan Jamil, Ali M. Alqahtany, Maher S. Alshammari, Sulaiman Almazroua and Eltahir Mohamed Elhadi Abdalla
Sustainability 2026, 18(5), 2510; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18052510 - 4 Mar 2026
Viewed by 1636
Abstract
Sea-level rise (SLR) and coastal flooding are among the most pressing climate-related challenges facing coastal regions worldwide, and their impacts are further intensified by rapid urbanization. These processes pose serious socioeconomic and environmental risks, including increased flood exposure, threats to public health, and [...] Read more.
Sea-level rise (SLR) and coastal flooding are among the most pressing climate-related challenges facing coastal regions worldwide, and their impacts are further intensified by rapid urbanization. These processes pose serious socioeconomic and environmental risks, including increased flood exposure, threats to public health, and damage to critical infrastructure. In Saudi Arabia, more than 3100 km2 of coastal land lies at elevations of 1 m or lower; however, reliable assessments of future sea-level rise and its potential impacts remain limited, creating significant uncertainty for long-term planning. This study addresses this knowledge gap by identifying areas vulnerable to sea-level rise and coastal flooding through the development of inundation maps for the Dammam Metropolitan Area (DMA) as a case study, while also outlining potential adaptation measures. Using satellite imagery and geospatial datasets, changes in the DMA shoreline between 2014 and 2024 were analyzed, and sea-level rise scenarios were simulated based on projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The results indicate that under a 0.6 m sea-level rise scenario, flooding would be limited to a small area of approximately 0.2 km2 in the Half-Moon residential district. In contrast, a 1.1 m sea-level rise scenario reveals a substantial increase in risk, with nearly 83 km2 of the DMA potentially exposed to coastal flooding. Based on these findings, targeted disaster management and adaptation strategies are recommended for areas most vulnerable to sea-level rise. The study highlights the need for policies regulating coastal reclamation and other climate-sensitive developments to minimize future flood risks. It supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) by enhancing urban flood risk assessment and improving understanding of climate-driven sea-level rise impacts. Full article
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