Managing coastal risks in the Mediterranean through participatory processes. Preliminary insights from the Metropolitan City of Bari (Southern Italy)

Coastal erosion is a critical issue in the Mediterranean Basin, heavily impacting vital coastal industries like tourism, agriculture, and fishing. Climate change compounds these problems, worsening floods and storms. To counteract the risk of erosion and flood, «hard» engineering-based approaches have been used, often prove ineffective and undesirable effects. Recognising the need for a shift, the international community advocates for Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Nature-based Solutions. Participatory actions involving local communities and stakeholders need to be provided to facilitate collaboration and consensus-building and to enhance peoples’ perceptions. Through a case-study analysis in the Metropolitan City of Bari (Italy), this paper tries to understand if policy-makers and stakeholders acknowledge and consider the newly proposed methods for coastal risk management as a potential alternative or supplement