EmpowerUs. Socio-economic Empowerment of coastal communities as users of the sea to ensure sustainable coastal development
Número del projecte / Project number
Grant No. 101059957
Nom i cognoms / Name and surname
Sílvia Gómez Mestres (Associate professor and Researcher and IP of the project at UAB); Beatriz Patraca (Postdoctoral student); Miro Pulgar (PhD student)
Afiliació / Affiliation
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Breu explicació del projecte / Brief explanation of your project
Coastal communities face many challenges, such as extreme weather conditions associated with climate change, increased pressure from urban development and tourism, as well as changes in traditional and cultural practices. Coastal communities are important for maintaining healthy climates and for the transition to a more sustainable, green and inclusive world. But in many cases, new policies, funding and solutions do not take these communities into account, making ineffective changes or completely forgetting them. EmpowerUs will help coastal communities create multiple, integrated and flexible solutions to support their transition to more sustainable, inclusive and resilient coastal development. Through a network of 6 Transition Coastal Laboratories in coastal regions of the European Union, new and effective methodologies for the elaboration of inclusive policies are promoted. The transition coastal laboratory of Cap de Creus (North Mediterranean) has developed a pilot initiative consisting of a digital platform (WebApp) whose objective is to promote cross-sectoral collaboration in network to cope with the growth of the blue economy in a climate change scenario, and the lack of effective regulations to meet conservation objectives and promote pro-environmental behaviors. Cap de Creus is one of the main biodiversity hotspots in the basin. At the same time, it is one of the places with the highest anthropogenic pressures as part of a general Mediterranean problem because it is one of the main tourist destinations in the world and one of the seas most affected by marine waste; in particular, microplastics. The heritage assets (marine bottoms, red coral, cold water coral, posidonia, sunken ships, dolmens, fishermen’s cabins, vineyards, shelters from the Spanish Civil War, etc.) are testimonies of the history, socio-economic activities and culture that make up its particular personality and uniqueness. All this is reflected in its biological and cultural diversity that make up its maritime and underwater heritage, a value that can drive transformation towards conservation and pro-environmental behaviors. NaturCap, therefore, is a digital space of ocean-oriented solutions that builds bridges between society and management to overcome barriers, create a multistakeholder collaborative platform and strengthen the transformative potential of the community by joining forces, sharing initiatives, knowledge and actions for change, and involving society beyond borders seeking its complicity in a task that affects everyone. It aims to empower the local community to take on greater control over environmental management, which is key to ensuring equity and justice and to preventing undue privatisation and monopolisation of the sea that favours large businesses to the detriment of small producers and sea users. Wellbeing is one of the fundamental principles of Oceanic Justice that involves cultural diversity, equity and the integration of rights into conservation principles. Following a cascade effect, the pilot project aims to become a greater support for network protection and conservation to go beyond the 30.30 objectives.
Enllaç a la pàgina web del projecte / Link to your project website
https://empowerus-project.eu/
Repte en que s’emmarca aquest projecte / Challenge within the framework of this project
1. Adaptation to Climate Change: support at least 150 European regions and communities to become climate resilient by 2030, 3. Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030
