The catalogue of measures and their selection and prioritisation enters the process of stakeholders’ consultation. MedCities is part of the technical team developing redacting the strategies where we lead the communication and participation activities.

The project, which began in 2020 and is in its final phase, is coordinated by the Directorate General for the Coast and the Sea (DGCM) of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) and is funded by the European Union’s Structural Reforms Support Programme.

Mr. Hugo Morán, Secretary of State for the Environment in Spain chaired an online meeting with representatives of the General Directorate of Support for the Structural Reforms of the European Union, institutional representatives of the Regional Government of Illes Balears, municipalities and other interested actors of the coastal area addressed by The Strategy (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Cabrera and Dragonera). The meeting was further attended by the technical assistance team members from Costal & Marine Union EUCC, IHCantabria, SOCIB and MedCities.

The virtual meeting was the opportunity for the General Directorate for the Coast and Sea (DGCM) from the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) to present the work performed, the documents under consultation and the consultation process.

The consultation will be opened till the 21 of September. The documents under consultation and all necessary information can be found here .

The Strategy aim to become a diagnostic and planning tool to identify the most appropriate coastal protection measures in the islands in the coming years. The measures address coastal erosion risk management, seeking synergies with flood risk management and incorporating adaptation to climate change.

Following the Integrated Diagnosis the technical team has worked with DGCM on the identification of all possible measures applicable. The subsequent step was to develop such a methodology that allows to establish which of those measures are the most appropriate concerning each of the 176 Management Units (MU).

The presentation, held on  21^st of June, included the various strategies and framework for the different objectives pursued by the measures included in the catalogue (to understand, to plan and to act), indicating all the categories of measures established (social and institutional prevention measures; physical and structural prevention measures; recovery and review measures) and their corresponding measures.

Regarding the selection and prioritisation criteria, the methodology included two steps:  1) the prioritization of Management Units based on the risk assessment and aimed to establish a hierarchy for intervention; and 2) the selection of measures, which allows to identify the sequence of measures for the protection of the coast so to intervene  in each management unit establishing a hierarchy.

The meeting was attended by representatives of municipal governments, including those from the city of Palma, MedCities member strongly engaged on coastal adaptation to climate change.

The video conference was recorded and can be viewed (in Spanish) here.