The role of experiential knowledge in risk management of coastal landscapes : a case study in the Mediterranean basin

Coastal areas are among the landscapes facing the greatest challenges. Traditional coastal management approaches to face with risks, based on hard approaches, have proved unsuccessful and inefficacious. They need to be combined with soft approaches, based on nature-based solutions, and on management strategies that include experiential knowledge. Focusing on an Italian coastal landscape, risk perception was investigated using the method Scenario Workshop to understand the level of awareness that different actors have on coastal erosion and associated risks. The study highlighted the necessity to create a diverse, interdisciplinary and scientific knowledge base, combined with an interface improvement between knowledge creation and decision-making, in which local actors can interact and participate into the management processes. In this sense, the production of shared knowledge on phenomena, processes and related risks would help to define appropriate forms of landscape management.