A Theoretical Framework for Climate Change Adaptation Participatory Planning in Vulnerable Coastal Zones. In International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications

Coastal zones are vulnerable climatic ecosystems.This is due to anthropogenic factors such as population growing and increase in settlement density, as well as geographical and natural pressures, including coastal danger, sea level rise, and biodiversity loss. Managing these problems and their interdependencies requires a bottom-up approach which can involve coastal communities in the climate change adaptation processes and encourage citizen participation towards a more sustainable resource management. This paper seeks to propose a set of guidelines on climate change adaptation through participatory planning for the assessment of the vulnerability of highly problematic areas such as coastal ones. To achieve this goal, a holistic approach based on systematic and transversal assessment of participatory best practices was applied and a theoretical framework was developed specifically for coastal areas. The proposed guidelines will facilitate (ii) a broader understanding of climate change concerns by the public and coastal tourism, (ii) the incorporation of stakeholders’ requirements into local climate change policies, and (iii) local empowerment of coastal communities in accordance with sustainability principles.