Coral reef socio-ecological systems analysis & restoration

Restoration strategies for coral reefs are usually focused on the recovery of bio-physical characteristics. They seldom include an evaluation of the recovery of the socio-ecological and ecosystem services features of coral reef systems. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to address both the socio-ecological system features of coral reefs with the implementation of restoration activity for degraded coral reefs. Such a framework can lead to better societal outcomes from restoration activities while restoring bio-physical, social and ecosystem service features of such systems. We first developed a Socio Ecological System Analysis Framework, which combines the Ostrom Framework for analyzing socio-ecological systems and the Kittinger et al. human dimensions framework of coral reefs socio-ecological systems. We then constructed a Restoration of Coral Reef Framework, based on the most used and recent available coral reef restoration literature. These two frameworks were combined to present a Socio-Ecological Systems & Restoration Coral Reef Framework. These three frameworks can be used as a guide for managers, researchers and decision makers to analyze the needs of coral reef restoration in a way that addresses both socio-economic and ecological objectives to analyze, design, implement and monitor reef restoration programs.European Commission Erasmus Mundus programme Future Earth Coastsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Why does making connections through resilience indicators matter?

The year 2015 saw the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Agreement. These landmark UN agreements both characterise and present the opportunity for developing integrated responses and coherence to the challenges bridging development, humanitarian, climate and disaster risk reduction areas. This chapter will provide examples of experiences and best practices from the international arena that identify how approaches to SDGs, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Management (DRM), and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) are juxtaposed, and the policy instruments currently in place that address SDG, DRR and CCA activities and actions. The text will consider opportunities for developing a concept of resilience that integrates SDG, DRR and CCA frameworks in response to global challenges, thereby constituting a development continuum instead of a series of independent and isolated phenomena. It will also identify and characterise opportunities for synergies across the different domains for community and sector vulnerability at local, national and international scales through integrated reporting across agreements

Identifying interactions for Sustainable Development Goal implementation in Ireland

EPA Research Report. Prepared for the Environmental Protection Agency by MaREI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cor

Enhancing integration of disaster risk and climate change adaptation into Irish emergency planning

The need to enhance the integration of knowledge, policies and practices between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction/management to ensure that the actions of one do not conflict with the other is recognised at Irish, EU and international levels. This research aimed to identify ways to enhance such integration in practice

Governance barriers to sustainable energy transitions – Assessing Ireland's capacity towards marine energy futures

Marine energies (ME), including offshore hydcrocarbons along with marine renewable energies (MRE), such as offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, are increasingly important in the future energy mix of many nations. We observe that ME governance is complex, as development offshore involves engagement and may often result in conflict. This paper examines the Irish case, where offshore gas and oil remain relatively undeveloped, and yet have provoked extensive controversy. Moreover, Ireland exhibits very ambitious plans for MRE developments. Against a background, where ME development seems to have stalled, the objective of the paper is to analyse the Irish governance setup and its capacity to deliver ME and whether the current system is equipped to enable transition to MREs. Current governance systems lack efficacy in terms of policy integration and enforcement, government oversight, and public trust due to past failures. Although, management approaches have been developed to address some of the barriers, domains such as policy/regulation, industry development and public engagement are disconnected. Results: presented may not simply be generalised, as each country context is different. An analysis of examples with similar issues must focus on studying the context of the governance setup and balances of power across domains

Literature review on enhancing integration of disaster risk and climate change adaptation in Irish emergency planning

The scope of the present literature review is under the remit of a wider project entitled Enhancing Integration of Disaster Risk and Climate Change Adaptation into Irish Emergency Planning which is funded under the Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Topic 3 funding call. The project, which began in March 2020, is due to run until March 2021. The objective of the project is to help institutions responsible to further 'climate-proof' emergency planning and risk management systems in Ireland to the increasing risk of extreme hydrometeorological events, by addressing national policy and decision-making processes, as well as local and regional planning and response mechanisms

Enhancing integration of disaster risk and climate change adaptation into Irish emergency planning

This chapter critically assesses the integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction with a special focus on the Irish policy and governance context. The chapter first presents a comprehensive overview of the Irish policy environment for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction including its current level of integration. Analysis of alignment with global and regional drivers of integration is then considered. Next, drawing on empirical research conducted with multidisciplinary experts across the Republic of Ireland, the chapter employs the SHIELD model, developed by the EU-funded ESPREssO project, which outlines six pathways to enhance integration across the domains of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. The pathways comprise of sharing knowledge, harmonising capacities, institutionalising coordination, engaging stakeholders, leveraging investments and developing communication. Findings of stakeholder focus groups and survey responses highlight the challenges and opportunities for impactful integration between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in Ireland from a practitioner perspective across the six SHIELD pathways. Finally, conclusions from the study indicate the importance of governance, management and coordination of systems for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction; the sequencing of policy-making, planning and research; and the significance of specificity in relation to use of the six SHIELD pathways

Introduction: Can the Sendai Framework, the Paris Agreement, and Agenda 2030 provide a path towards societal resilience?

The Global Risk Report 2021 highlights the portfolio of risks that may reshape the world in the coming years (WEF, The Global Risks Report 2021 (16th ed.). ISBN: 978-2-940631-24-7. http://wef.ch/risks2021, 2021). Although the global portfolio of risks is dominated by the existential crisis of climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic presents an immediate experience of how risk can upend and disrupt our societies and economies. It has highlighted existing global inequalities and demonstrated the scope and scale of cascading socio-ecological impacts. The impacts of climate change on global communities will likely dwarf the disruption brought on by the pandemic, with impacts being more diffuse and pervasive over a longer time frame. The chapter sets out the nature of the climate change problem and the potential value in integrating the agendas of Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction and the Sustainable Development Goals to increase societal resilience. It then describes the scope of the book under its three sections: Best practice approaches; Irish case studies; International case studies. Lessons learned are then presented from the studies set out within the volume, followed by challenges and potential solutions to realising the ambition of resilience. Finally, a set of overarching conclusions are drawn

Creating Resilient Futures - Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction, Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Change Adaptation Agendas

Examines a coherence building opportunity between Climate Change Adaptation, the Sustainable Development Goals and Disaster Risk Reduction agendas. Considers opportunities to address global challenges in the context of developing resilience as an integrated development continuum instead of through independent and siloed agendas

Impacts of tourism on coastal areas

The socioeconomics of the Anthropocene are exposing coastal regions to multiple pressures, including climate change hazards, resource degradation, urban development, and inequality. Tourism is often raised as either a panacea to, or exacerbator of, such threats to ecosystems and sustainable livelihoods. To better understand the impacts of tourism on coastal areas, Scopus and Web of Science databases were searched for the top-100 cited papers on coastal tourism. Web of Science suggested ‘highly cited’ papers were also included to allow for more recent high impact papers. Of the papers retrieved, forty-four focused on the impacts of tourism. Social/cultural and environmental impacts were viewed as mostly negative, while economic impacts were viewed as mostly positive but only of actual benefit to a few. In addition, when compared with recent whole-of-sector reviews and reports it was evident that coastal tourism is increasingly a global enterprise dominated by large corporations that leverage various interests across local to transnational scales. Through this global enterprise, even the positive economic benefits identified were overshadowed by a broader system of land and property development fuelling local wealth inequity and furthering the interests of offshore beneficiaries. Only two highly cited papers discussed tourism within a broader context of integrated coastal zone management, suggesting that tourism is mostly assessed as a discrete sector within the coastal zone and peripheral to other coastal management considerations or the global tourism sector as a whole. The findings have relevance to the holistic management of coasts, coastal tourism, and the achievement of sustainable development goals in a way that considers the increasing threats from coastal hazards, resource extraction and urbanisation, as well as the pervasive impacts of international business systems from local to global scales