Coastal

Coast of Catalonia, ES
The Catalan coast, a 600km stretch in northeastern Spain, is rich in biodiversity but faces intense pressure from tourism, urbanization, and industries, making it highly vulnerable to climate change impacts.

Introduction

The Catalan coast in northeastern Spain spans 600 km and has a wide range of geographical and biodiversity systems that provide vital ecosystem services. While representative of other Mediterranean coastal regions, this area is particularly significant due to its concentration of tourism, natural and societal dynamics, economic activities, urbanization, agriculture, and critical infrastructure.
Current climate trends indicate an increasing risk of various climate hazards, including rising temperatures, sea level rise, extreme marine storms, and reduced precipitation. These changes are likely to exacerbate the impact on coastal flooding, coastal erosion, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity.

The Impetus Coastal Resilience Knowledge Booster provides tools, methodologies, guidelines, and use case examples with results of eight adaptation measures that have been field-tested in different locations in the region. The final goal of the RKBs is to promote the upscaling and mainstreaming of adaptation measures in similarly vulnerable bioregions affected by climate change.

Challenges

Costa Daurada and Terres de L’Ebre boast a Mediterranean climate, with warm summers and mild winters. This climate potential opens up a diverse range of tourist activities. From water sports along the pristine beaches to hiking through the picturesque landscapes, visitors can experience the beauty of the region year-round. The moderate temperatures create an ideal environment for outdoor activities like cycling, exploring historic sites, and enjoying local festivals.

Specific explanation about energy and tourism in the tourist sector. Concretar espec´´ificament que es veurà al visor sobre això

The beach dune systems in these regions are not just picturesque landscapes; they are vital ecosystems that contribute to the overall resilience of the coastal environment. There’s a growing awareness and appreciation for the importance of preserving these dune systems. Local communities and tourists alike are encouraged to respect designated paths, avoid disturbing the natural vegetation, and participate in beach cleanup initiatives. This collective effort ensures the sustainability of the beach dune systems, maintaining their role as natural buffers against coastal erosion and supporting biodiversity.

Estat molt preliminar s’haurà de veure com s’enfoca

Solutions

Adaptation Pathways

Impact chains (IC)

The main objective of the adaptation process is increasing water availability and improve quality of the Catalonia’s inner watersheds, encompassing 52% of the region’s territory and home to 92% of its population. Such watershed are managed by the Catalan Water Agency and account for 40% of the region’s total water consumption, with domestic use (44%) being the primary driver, followed by agricultural (36%) and industrial (20%) demands.

The inner watersheds’ economic dynamism, centered around the coastal and urban areas, underscores their vulnerability to climate change, especially given the high demands placed on water for sustaining both population and industrial needs. With a population exceeding 8 million, concentrated heavily in Barcelona and surrounding urban zones, and a robust GDP per capita of €34,381, Catalonia’s reliance on its watersheds for socioeconomic sustainability highlights the pressing need for adaptive water management strategies in the face of growing climatic and societal pressures.

Climate risks are correlated with two main factors:

– Diminished and altered precipitation patterns: Changes in rainfall regimes, including reduced overall precipitation and increased variability, significantly impact water availability. This creates challenges for replenishing natural water reserves, such as aquifers, rivers and reservoirs, and exacerbates seasonal or regional shortages.

– Increased Temperatures: Rising temperatures amplify water scarcity by driving higher evaporation rates from surface water bodies and soils, intensifying drought conditions. Additionally, increased temperatures often lead to greater water demand, particularly for agriculture and energy production, further straining resources.

A first conceptual model has been implemented according to the Catalan Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change 2021-2030 (ESCACC30, Estratègia catalana d’adaptació al canvi climàtic 2021-2030). Also, it has been elaborated jointly with the Catalan Office for Climate Change (OCCC) as partners of the project.

Hazards and impacts highlighted in red are the most common and directly related to the tasks performed within IMPETUS WP4 activities in the Demo Site.

Pathway Map

Adaptation Pathways in the context of climate resilience are strategic plans designed to help regions or communities adapt to the changing climate over time. They outline a series of steps or actions that can be taken in response to different climate scenarios and potential tipping points, where current measures may no longer be effective. By setting clear objectives and identifying key indicators, Adaptation Pathways allow decision-makers to choose the best policies or solutions as conditions evolve, ensuring that communities can remain resilient to climate impacts in the long term. The impact chains and adaptation pathways for the Coastal Demo Site are currently under development. See an example of an adaptation pathways map. Final results will be presented here very soon!

 

 

Innovation Packages: Driving Climate transformation

The IMPETUS Project was designed to accelerate Europe’s journey to climate-neutrality by 2050, moving beyond incremental fixes to deliver fundamental, transformative adaptation actions. The central idea is that successful climate adaptation requires both innovation and transformation, a systemic overhaul of how societies, ecosystems, and economies respond to climate risks.

Innovation Packages are the core output of the IMPETUS project. They synthesize and organize the results from our demonstration sites across Europe into a clear, actionable framework built on three essential components:

  1. Resilience Knowledge Boosters (RKBs)
    • What they are: Multidisciplinary communities, supported by a digital platform, aimed at enhancing regional climate resilience.
    • How they work: They facilitate stakeholder engagement and co-creation, promoting knowledge exchange to develop effective adaptation strategies. RKBs integrate both human and technological dimensions, utilizing digital tools to inform decisions.
    • Impact: Each RKB is developed for a specific case study, engaging local communities to explore and share knowledge on adaptation while showcasing concrete solutions and pathways to resilience.
  2. Adaptation Pathways
    • Long-term Roadmaps: These are stepwise roadmaps that provide a flexible, long-term vision for managing climate uncertainty.
    • Managing Tipping Points: They are designed to identify when current adaptation measures will reach their limits (tipping points) and when stronger or new measures must be introduced to maintain resilience.
  3. Portfolios of Solutions
    • Tested Options: A curated collection of rigorously tested options (technological, nature-based, and governance-related) ready for adaptation, scaling, or replication across other regions.
    • Integrated Measures: These portfolios integrate both structural measures (e.g., advanced water treatment, green infrastructure) and essential enabling conditions (e.g., finance mechanisms, governance reforms, digital tools, training).

IMPETUS aims for Transformational Adaptation—not just adjusting existing systems, but fundamentally rethinking and restructuring them. This involves:

  • Holistic Scope: Adopting systemic, cross-sectoral, and integrated approaches to change.
  • Deep Impact: Addressing governance structures, social behavior, and ecological resilience simultaneously.
  • Shifting Pathways: Restructuring systems toward sustainable pathways rather than reinforcing unsustainable ones.
  • Inclusivity: Embedding participation, equity, and strong local ownership in all solutions.
  • Future-Looking: Ensuring solutions are durable and effective in the face of long-term climate change.

IMPETUS runs demonstration sites in seven diverse European biogeographical regions, each facing distinct climate risks (from droughts and heat stress to floods and sea-level rise). By developing and testing Innovation Packages, the project achieves critical outcomes:

  • Builds a common, unified knowledge base for climate adaptation.
  • Facilitates mutual learning and knowledge transfer between regions.
  • Identifies key enabling factors such as finance, governance, and digitalization.
  • Accelerates the replication and upscaling of successful adaptation measures.

For the Coast of Catalonia, where sea level rise, marine storms, and chronic water scarcity are critical risks, the Innovation Package delivered:

  • Resilience Knowledge Booster (RKB) Platform: A digital tool presenting regional challenges and providing solutions for Resilient Tourism, Species Distribution, Water Quality in bathing areas (e.g., a Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment tool to forecast contamination), Water Quality forecasting in Treatment plants and Dune Restoration.
  • Adaptation Pathways for Water Scarcity: Four distinct, integrated pathways (Socio-environmental, Technological, Techno-environmental, and Socio-political) to increase water availability and quality by defining tipping points and phased measures (e.g., reducing urban water demand, increasing water reuse).
  • A Portfolio of 12 Solutions: An assessment of adaptation options addressing coastal hazards, biodiversity loss, and water supply issues, with nine solutions specifically tested, including sand dune restoration (as a Nature-Based Solution) and a water reclamation system.

This Innovation Package represents a novel approach for the region, integrating digital tools, policy roadmaps, and co-created solutions to address complex, multi-sectoral climate risks.

Download the full report for the Coast of Catalonia Innovation Package here:

Download Report

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101037084
Funded in the EU Horizon 2020 Green Deal call