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The land transformation process in the last decades produced the urbanization growth in flat and coastal areas all over the world. The combination of natural phenomena and human pressure is likely one of the main factors that enhance coastal dynamics. These factors lead to an increase in coastal risk (considered as the product of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability) also in view of future climate change scenarios. Although each of these factors has been intensively studied separately, a comprehensive analysis of the mutual relationship of these elements is an open task. Therefore, this work aims to assess the possible mutual interaction of land transformation and coastal management zones, studying the possible impact on local coastal communities. The idea is to merge the techniques coming from urban planning with data and methodology coming from the coastal engineering within the frame of a holistic approach. The main idea is to relate urban and land changes to coastal management. Then, the study aims to identify if stakeholders’ pressure motivated the deployment of rigid structures instead of shoreline variations related to energetic and sedimentary balances. The influence of coastal protection (described by an indicator taking into account the linear density of the rigid protection extension alongshore) measures have been considered. Finally, the economical performances in the period just after the land transformation have been studied by means of a dimensionless index based on the concept of the local unit. The method has been applied to the case study of the Abruzzo Region. Results reveal a large urbanization growth and a generalized over-protection of the coast with a resulting spatial alternation of shoreline retreat and advance. On the other hand, the analysis of the local economy reveals that the presence of tourism activities does not necessarily lead to an increase in the local economy. Indeed, the most important improvement in local economies in the region can be associated with coastal stretches characterized by a high environmental value.

Nowadays, following the increased interest and need for the issue of sustainability, tourist destinations are called upon to promote sustainable tourism development through the implementation of investments and initiatives. Despite the investments by the destinations, how are these perceived by tourists and residents? Based on this, this paper aims to assess the perception of sustainable investments in a coastal area located in Tuscany, through the administration of a questionnaire among 750 people, including both tourists and house owners. The study adopted statistical logit and probit models to detect the perception of sustainable initiatives in relation to beach satisfaction. Moreover, this research developed a model for understanding if there are substantial differences in perception between Italian and foreign beach users and at the same time between residents/house owners and tourists. The findings reveal that those who perceive investments in sustainability are more than satisfied with beach and facilities. The model shows that foreigners and residents/house owners perceive sustainable investments implemented in the destination more than tourists and Italian respondents. This research can provide support to local operators and policymakers in defining the destination image in relation to sustainability.

This research focuses on the evolution of the largest iceberg A68 and analyzes the trajectory using Sentinel-1 SAR data. The monitoring began when A68 calved Larsen C Ice shelf on 12 July 2017, and ended on 1 February 2021. A total of 47 images were analyzed and studied to ascertain the changes in the area, trajectory and the factors that might have influenced said changes. The big size of the iceberg caught the scientific community’s attention when it started moving towards South Georgia Island, a habitat of penguins and seals. The pattern of decrease and increase in the iceberg’s size was analyzed and compared with the surrounding sea ice extent to account for longitudinal stretching and shrinkage. Iceberg’s trajectory was also studied to take into account the underlying seabed and ice rises, and their implication on A68’s maneuverability, giving rise to unique motions in the coastal regime. Two subsequent calving events in the iceberg were distinctly observed in March 2019 and April 2020. Since its inception up to December 2019, its drift was fairly gradual, with the pick up in pace observed upon its entry into open waters and departure from the peninsular region. The decrease in size was also fairly gradual with only two main calving events, as mentioned above. The cold water and sea ice surrounding the iceberg potentially helped maintain a steady state. Post its sojourn into the Southern Ocean, major calving began in December 2020 and continued through January 2021. This study explores the potential of SAR remote sensing in iceberg monitoring and tracking.

The replacement of fish meal and fish oil by insect-based ingredients in the formulation of marine aquafeeds can be an important step towards sustainability. To pursue this goal, the modulation of the lipid profile of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) has received great attention. While its nutritional profile can shift with diet, the ability to modulate its lipidome is yet to be understood. The present work provides an overview of the lipid modulation of H. illucens larvae through its diet, aiming to produce a more suitable ingredient for marine aquafeeds. Marine-based substrates significantly improve the lipid profile of H. illucens larvae, namely its omega-3 fatty acids profile. An improvement of approximately 40% can be achieved using fish discards. Substantial levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), two essential fatty acids for marine fish and shrimp species, were recorded in H. illucens larvae fed on fish discards and coffee silverskin with Schyzochytrium sp. Unfortunately, these improvements are still deeply connected to marine-based bioresources, some still being too costly for use at an industrial scale (e.g., microalgae). New approaches using solutions from the biotechnology toolbox will be decisive to make H. illucens larvae a feasible alternative ingredient for marine aquafeeds without having to rely on marine bioresources.

Small islands are vulnerable to the synergistic effects of climate change and anthropogenic disturbances due to the fact of their small area, geographical isolation, responsive ecologies, rapidly growing and developing populations and exposure to sea level and climate change. These changes exert pressures on ecosystem services, such as the provisioning of resources, and therefore threaten the sustainability of livelihoods. We reviewed key sustainability and livelihoods literature to bring together concepts of environmental livelihood resilience and stability across temporal and spatial scales and integrated them to produce a new conceptual framework for dynamic environmental livelihood sustainability (DESL). This framework aims to facilitate the incorporation of local community perspectives into water, energy and food nexus thinking about sustainable land use to support local livelihoods. Finally, we provide insights from this case study to evaluate the effectiveness of the DESL framework in addressing gaps in existing frameworks. We suggest this framing provides a mechanism for enhancing the agency of communities to produce more cohesive and inclusive land use management plans that can lead to enhanced environmental sustainability pathways.

The bioeconomy can play a critical role in helping countries to find alternative sustainable sources of products and energy. Countries with diverse terrestrial and marine ecosystems will see diverging feedstock opportunities to develop these new value chains. Understanding the sources, composition, and regional availability of these biomass feedstocks is an essential first step in developing new sustainable bio-based value chains. In this paper, an assessment and analysis of regional biomass availability was conducted in the diverse regions of Andalusia and Ireland using a bioresource mapping model. The model provides regional stakeholders with a first glance at the regional opportunities with regards to feedstock availability and an estimate of the transportation costs associated with moving the feedstock to a different modelled location/region for the envisioned biorefinery plant. The analysis found that there were more than 30 million tonnes of (wet weight) biomass arisings from Ireland (84,000 km2) with only around 4.8 million tonnes from the Andalusian region (87,000 km2). The study found that Cork in Ireland stood out as the main contributor of biomass feedstock in the Irish region, with animal manures making the largest contribution. Meanwhile, the areas of Almería, Jaén, and Córdoba were the main contributors of biomass in the Andalusia region, with olive residues identified as the most abundant biomass resource. This analysis also found that, while considerable feedstock divergence existed within the regions, the mapping model could act as an effective tool for collecting and interpreting the regional data on a transnational basis.

For some types of seafood, such as clams, there are now sustainability certificates that guarantee their sustainable production. However, their consumption may be associated with some ethical and sustainability concerns, as clams are harvested in ways that may be harmful to the environment. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate consumers’ sustainability concerns based on their purchasing preferences and WTP for clams with sustainability certification in three Mediterranean countries—Italy, Spain and Croatia. Data were collected online and consumer preferences were elicited using a labelled discrete choice experiment. The results show that in general all consumers prefer clams from their country of origin, while there are differences in their appreciation for the sustainability certification. While Croatian consumers are not very interested in the current Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sustainability certification, consumers in Spain are willing to pay a higher price for it. At the same time, consumers in Italy are more interested in new certifications such as Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM). These results could be of interest to clam production and distribution companies trying to advance their corporate social responsibility activities and positioning.