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Description
Legislation and regulation regarding coastal zone protection and management are diffused in several authorities. Collaboration of competent authorities and Citizens is not always efficient. Citizens and stakeholders aren’t timely informed nor encouraged in participating to decision-making procedures regarding a) the management of coastal activities b) coastal infrastructure design c) protection measures against coastal erosion, flooding, pollution etc. The project aspires to strengthen citizen’s advocacy in issues of coastal zone management, environmental monitoring and coastal protection by supporting Citizens’ active role in decision making at the local and at the regional level.
The project proposes the development of a web-platform as a citizens’ advocacy strengthening framework on coastal zone issues by enabling easy access in relevant decisions drawn by local and regional authorities on coastal zone protection and management. As a pilot study the successive coastal regions of Western Achaia and Ilia are chosen. These regions are sharing similar coastal ecosystems, geomorphology and climate conditions. The prevailing anthropogenic activities are relevant to agriculture and tourism.
The Project aims to promote social information and Citizens advocacy in decisions relevant to coastal zone protection and management. The use of web-platform will enable a) Citizens’ easy access to decisions drawn from different Authorities b) decisions’ diffusion to Western Greece Citizens. This web-platform will provide information on a) compliance of local/regional decisions with European-International legislation b)application of modern scientific methods on coastal erosion, flooding and pollution mitigation c)adoption of good practices on controlling adverse Environmental impacts based on the international experience. Local coastal Communities, enterprises, Environmental protection/management groups/Agencies will be benefited.
Summary of project results
The legislative and regulatory-operational responsibilities for the coastal zone are shared among numerous entities, while cooperation between authorities and citizens is not always effective. Citizens are rarely informed in a timely manner or are discouraged from participating in oversight processes related to decision-making for:
a) the management of activities in the coastal zone,
b) the planning of infrastructure, and
c) addressing natural phenomena such as erosion, flooding, and pollution in the coastal zone.
The project aimed to address this need by strengthening advocacy and the supervisory role of citizens in decision-making processes at the local and regional levels through the implementation of an online platform as a modern interactive toolkit aims to strengthen citizen advocacy and oversight on issues related to the protection and management of the coastal zone.
Two (2) neighboring coastal areas, Western Achaia and Ilia, are being selected as pilot regions. These areas share similar natural environments, coastal geomorphology, and climatic conditions, as well as human activities primarily linked to the primary sector and tourism.
Legislative and regulatory-operational decision-making responsibilities for the coastal zone have been taken up by many actors, with the result that cooperation between institutions and citizens is not always efficient. Citizens are rarely informed in a timely manner or discouraged from participating in control procedures in decision-making on a) the management of activities in the coastal zone, b) the design of basic or critical infrastructure, and c) the response to natural erosion, floods, coastal landslides as well as pollution in the coastal zone.
The COAST-ADWEB project, funded from the Active citizens fund program, was implemented by Coastal Rescue-SAVECOAST and its partner named the European Institute of Law, Science and Technology (EILST) and was aimed precisely at this need: To strengthen advocacy and the supervisory role of citizens in decision-making regarding the protection and management of the coastal zone at the local and the regional scale.
To achieve the goals of the project, the communication web platform savecoast.com was created, a modern information toolkit and knowledge repository, through which citizens are informed and encouraged to advocate for environmental issues regarding the protection and management of the coastal zone. Based on appropriate questionnaires and electronic forms the web-platform allows the interaction with Organizations and Citizens to highlight relevant problems in the region of Achaia and Ilia, while the long-term goal is the gradually expansion of communication, primarily at the coastal zone of Western Greece after the completion of the current project, through the web-platform tools and additional initiatives and actions.
To highlight this effort on raising public awareness on issues related to the coastal zone, as well as to strengthen citizens active role, visits were made to local and regional authorities in Achaia and Elia and meetings and web communication informative events were organized on the role of the implemented project on enhancing advocacy on environmental issues of the coastal zone by using the capabilities and functions of the web-platform.
The beneficiaries of the project include all citizens who are interested in and engaged with environmental issues, as well as those who were informed through the project''s implementation activities and decided to contribute to the protection and management of the coastal natural environment. The latter group, in particular, constitutes the main target audience, as it has been observed that a lack of interest in the natural environment often stems from insufficient information. Once this gap is filled, the level of social contribution is remarkable. In total 351 people have used the web platform and participated in informational acitivities.