Spatial planning use cases

Coastal regions are tremendously important for Europe's economy. Approximately 40% of the EU's population lives within 50 km of the sea. Almost 40% of the EU's GDP is generated in these maritime regions, and a staggering 75% of the volume of the EU's foreign trade is conducted by sea.

But this important role played by our coasts has come at a cost to the environment. Activities such as shipping, resource extraction, tourism, renewable energy and fishing are all putting pressure on marine and coastal areas. These pressures have been felt across most of Europe's coastal regions and have resulted in habitat loss, pollution and accelerated coastal erosion. Climate change is likely to make these regions and the societies that live in them, more vulnerable. This deterioration threatens the continued health of our coastal areas and therefore the management of them must be conducted balancing the competing interests of human development with the need to ensure healthy and resilient coastal ecosystems.

The European Commission in 2013 issued a proposal for a new directive. This directive would establish a framework for integrated coastal management and for 'maritime spatial planning' (public policy that deals exclusively with managing maritime space but not land space). Following the debates in the EU institutions, the proposal was modified and adopted as Directive 2014/89/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning. The directive highlighted the need to integrate in a coherent way all of the EU policies that touch on maritime and coastal issues (such as the Habitats Directive, the Water Framework Directive, Marine Strategy Framework Directive etc.). It sets up the legal framework providing guidance for how to better manage the competing claims of economic sectors on space and resources in marine areas..

The Copenhagen region of Denmark is highly sensitive to climate change, especially sea level rise, as small changes in sea level could lead to large changes in the frequency of storm surge flooding. To support the long-term planning and risk management of coastal flooding, the Danish Meteorological Institute used C3S data (e.g. mean sea level rise, change in storm surge height, a 'gate index' that estimates the frequency of flood barrier closures, and change in wave height and ocean currents) to provide targeted coastal climate information to clients in the Copenhagen region. The data has added value to end-users by contributing to a sound basis for decision making and prioritization of resources for coastal climate adaptation.

Asthma and allergies to airborne particles, including pollen, have increased significantly in Europe over the last 30 years. PASYFO is a tool that forecasts personal allergy symptoms due to pollen and is designed to improve the quality of life for those sensitive to this allergen. The system, developed by an international team, includes a database and air quality forecasting models, with information available on the website and through the mobile PASYFO App. CAMS data is used as the main input for the symptoms forecasting system daily, making the PASYFO service available to its users. The system is designed to be tailored to any European country and could be useful for both allergy sufferers and their doctors. Users appreciate the personalized forecast, which has facilitated planning of outdoor activities, especially for families with allergic children.

© EU Coastal development in areas that are already vulnerable to tsunamis underscores the need for informed and data-driven urban planning to develop effective adaptation and mitigation strategies. Vulnerability data is highly valued by those working in the humanitarian and disaster response sectors, as it can inform capacity building initiatives and aid efforts. This was why the Spanish General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies (CENEM) asked Copernicus to develop a tsunami risk analysis along the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia. By mixing satellite imagery with topographic and cadastral datasets, the Copernicus service was able to create a geospatial layer containing several building characteristics – e.g. materials, year of construction, shape – used to evaluate the vulnerability of the structures to then model the impact of possible tsunami waves.

The aforementioned data was used as input of the Papathoma Tsunami Vulnerability analysis, resultinged in detailed information on tsunami hazard, exposure, and vulnerability of buildings in urban areas from Gibraltar to Portugal (EMSN078 in 2020) and the rest of the remaining coastal area of Andalusia (EMSN116 in 2021).

PerfeCt - Performance of Aquaculture under Climate change is an innovative approach to answer the 'What if?' question when establishing and/or adapting aquaculture sites in the light of climate change.

The modular geospatial web application integrates a process-based modelling of fish growth built upon Dynamic Energy Budget theory, as well as an innovative index to identify the risk of vibriosis disease, into a user friendly GIS framework to estimate relative changes of three simple aquaculture performance factors: time-to-market, food conversion ratio, and risk of disease. By doing so, the application transforms science-based results to easily accessible and understandable information useful for aquaculture managers, investors and policy makers, thus creating a valuable link between R&D and industry.

The EU-funded project FORCOAST is developing, testing and demonstrating, in operational mode, novel Copernicus-based downstream information services that will incorporate Copernicus Marine, Land and Climate Services Products, local monitoring data and advanced modelling in the service.

The web-based application developed in partnership with the Union for the Mediterranean and the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) uses a simplified coastal flood index to display 50 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Mediterranean classified by their flooding risk by 2050.

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a process that brings together multiple users of the ocean to make informed and coordinated decisions about how to use marine resources sustainably. The European Parliament and the Council have adopted legislation to create a common framework for maritime spatial planning in Europe. Data gathered in the PLASMAR include: marine parameters defined by Marine Strategy Framework Directive, marine protected areas, land and marine use spatial information and oceanographic data (EMODnet, INSPIRE, EIONET and COPERNICUS MARINE SERVICE, and national, regional and local spatial data infrastructures such as GRAFCAN, IDE IEO, IDEE, SIGMAR, SNIMAR). The PLASMAR Project is addressing Marine Spatial Planning through an ecosystem-based approach adapted to the biogeographic characteristics of the Macaronesian Region (Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands). It supports the development of Blue Growth sectors while ensuring the conservation of natural marine heritage. PLASMAR project has used standardized Copernicus global products with inter-regional coverage (the whole Macaronesia). These are homogeneous products in terms of quality, spatial and temporal resolution, thus filling the oceanographic information requirements of the project for the immense marine extension of the Exclusive Economic Zones of Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands. In summary, four Copernicus Marine products have been used, focusing on 17 variables, generating 77 by-products.