Unibo Team Leader: Dott.ssa Barbara Zanuttigh, Dip. di Ingegneria delle Strutture, dei Trasporti, delle Acque, del Rilevamento, del Territorio - DISTART
Coastal areas are vital economic hubs in terms of settlement, industry, agriculture, trade and tourism to mention some key sectors. There are already many coastal problems including erosion, flood risk and long-term habitat deterioration. As economies continue to develop the asset base at risk will grow, while accelerating climate change will increase the likelihood of damaging extreme events, as well as accelerate habitat decline.
Existing coastal management and defence approaches are not well tuned to these challenges as they assume a static situation.
THESEUS will develop a systematic approach to delivering both a low-risk coast for human use and healthy habitats for evolving coastal zones subject to multiple change factors.
The innovative combined mitigation and adaptation technologies to be considered will include ecologically-based mitigation measures (such as restoration and/or creation of habitats), hydro-morphodynamic techniques (such as wave energy converters, sediment reservoirs, multi-purpose structures, overtop resistant dikes), actions to reduce the impact on society and economy (such as promotion of risk awareness or spatial planning) and GIS-based software to support defence planning.
To integrate the best of these technical measures in a strategic policy context we will develop overarching THESEUS guidelines which will considers the environmental, social and economic issues raised in any coastal area.
It is in this spirit that THESEUS will advance European and international experience in applying innovative technologies to reducing coastal risks.
THESEUS activities will be carried out within a multidisciplinary framework using 8 study sites across Europe, with specific attention to the most vulnerable coastal environments such as deltas, estuaries and wetlands, where many large cities and industrial areas are located.
Coordinator
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM-UNIVERSITA’ DI BOLOGNA
- Dip. di Ingegneria delle Strutture, dei Trasporti, delle Acque, del Rilevamento, del Territorio - DISTART
- Resp. scientifico: Dott.ssa Barbara Zanuttigh
Other participants
UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIA (Spain)
UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH (UK)
AALBORG UNIVERSITET (Denmark)
Infram International BV (The Netherlands)
FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM GEESTHACHT GMBH- GKSS (Germany)
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON (UK)
UNIVERSITE DE VERSAILLES SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES (France)
CENTRE D'ETUDES TECHNIQUES MARITIMES ET FLUVIALES (France)
MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY HIGHER EDUCATION CORPORATION (UK)
INSTYTUT METEOROLOGII I GOSPODARKI WODNEJ (Poland)
INSTITUTE OF OCEANOLOGY - BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (Bulgaria)
ATHENS UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS - RESEARCH CENTER (Greece)
KONINKLIJKE NEDERLANDSE AKADEMIE VAN WETENSCHAPPEN – KNAW (The Netherlands)
CONSORZIO PER LA GESTIONE DEL CENTRO DI COORDINAMENTO DELLE ATTIVITA DI RICERCA INERENTI IL SISTEMA LAGUNARE DI VENEZIA (Italy)
INSTYTUT BUDOWNICTA WODNEGO POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK (Poland)
BANGOR UNIVERSITY (UK)
BUREAU DE RECHERCHES GEOLOGIQUES ET MINIERES (France)
HAMBURG PORT AUTHORITY (Germany)
Entente interdepartementale pour la demoustication du littoral méditerranéen (France)
Latvijas Universitate (Latvia)
Istituto Superiore Per La Ricerca E La Protezione Ambientale (Italy)
Vlaams Instituut Voor De Zee Vzw (Belgium)
Aristotelio Panepistimio Thessalonikis (Greece)
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium)
Marine Hydrophysical Institute - Ukrainian National Academy Of Sciences (Ukraine)
P.P. Shirshov Institute Of Oceanology Of Russian Academy Of Sciences (Russia)
University Of Delaware (Usa)
Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico (Mexico)
East China Normal University-ECNU (China)
National Cheng Kung University (Taiwan)
Stichting Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut Voor Zeeonderzoek-NIOZ (The Netherlands)
End date 30/11/2013
Duration 48 months
Project cost 8.519.726 EURO
Project Funding 6.530.000 EURO
Subprogramme Area Innovative coastal defence technologies.
Contract type Collaborative Project, large scale integrating project