Bringing Public Perceptions in the Integrated Assessment of Coastal Systems Case studies on beach tourism and coastal erosion in the Western Mediterranean Doctorate Dissertation Elisabet Roca Bosch Supervisors: Dr. J. David Tàbara (ICTA-UAB) Dra. Míriam Villares (ETSEC-UPC) January 2008 Agraïments Estem a primers dels 2008. Abans de tancar aquesta etapa i proposar-me nous reptes no puc deixar de mirar enrera i recordar l’immens suport que he rebut de tantíssimes persones. Entre tots heu contribuit a donar forma a aquest projecte i aquestes línies volen fer-vos arribar el meu profund agraïment i la gran satisfacció em queda de què m’hagueu acompanyat durant aquesta llarga travessia. Començo pels meus directors. La Míriam em va iniciar en les ciències socials quan ens vam conèixer en el projecte Eurosion. Gràcies a la seva presència des del bon principi i al seu paper més enllà de lo professional, és en gran part la responsable de què hagi arribat a bon port. El David amb el seu entusiasme i les ganes d’innovar ha sigut un bon estímul. El finançament de la recerca no ha faltat mai gràcies als següents projectes i institucions: - Projecte Europeu Eurosion (2002-2004) encarregat per la Direcció General de Medi Ambient de la Commissió Europea (B4-3301/2001/329175/MAR/B3). - Projecte Europeo Messina – Managing European Shoreline and Nearshore Areas- (2004- 2005) finaciado por INTERREG III C West Zone (2W00381) - Projecte Nacional MeVaPlaya financiat pel Ministeri español d’educación i ciencia (REN2003- 09029-C03-01-MAR) - Proyecto Europeo MATISSE -Methods and Tools for Integrated Sustainability Assessment (2005-2008) del 6è Programma Marc de la Unió Europea (004059 (GOCE) – MATISSE) - 2n Pla de Beques ICTA (2005-2007) m’ha permés una completa dedicació aquests darrers anys per a consolidar el treball començat en els anteriors projectes. En aquests projectes he tingut la sort de treballar amb investigadors de diverses disciplines que han enriquit la meva capacitat integradora i m’han acostat a altres llenguatges. Entre ells, no puc deixar de citar a la petita gran familia d’Eurosion: el Jordi, l’Oriol i la Carlota. Del gran col·lectiu que fomava el MevaPlaya vull agraïr especialment les aportacions i critiques del Jose i la complicitat de l’Edu. També, han tingut un gran paper la gran colla d’enquestadors i amics - Mireia, Irene, Alba, Martí, Daniela, Sílvia, Montse, Javi, Feliu, Esther- que amb tanta il·lusió es van oferir per ajudar-me a cobrir les platges en tres temporades. Em plau molt haver pogut combinar amistat i feina en diverses ocasions, com en el projecte Messina que vam realitzar conjuntament amb el Gonzalo de qui vaig aprendre sobre multicriteri. L’estudi de la percepció social requereix la disposició desinteressada de molts entrevistats i enquestat als qui vull agrair el temps que em van dedicar, la majoria d’ells amb una gran predisposició. També agrair l’ajuda de la Bet en les transcripcions i la Rosa en la realització d’algunes entrevistes. Per mi, la vessant més afectiva d’aquesta etapa ha estat fonamental i completament imprescindible. Sense dubte, el doctorat no hagués estat el mateix sense la gran companyia dels becaris de l’ICTA amb qui ens hem divertit i també recolçat durant aquest llarg procés. El balanç final és definitivament positiu. Agraeixo als veïns de la ETC-TE que m’hagin acollit como una més i, en particular a l’Alex pel suport cartogràfic. Finalment agrair als meus pares, l’Alba i els amics per ser-hi sempre. Moltes gràcies a tots! III IV Abstract Coasts are some of the most valuable ecosystems on Earth. However, not only coasts hold some of the most biodiverse and productive landscapes but at the same time they are some of the most coveted by humans. Current trends on demographic growth and urbanization indicate that in the near future the anthropic pressure in coastal areas is very likely to intensify. Climate change adds new risks and uncertainties to the dynamics of coastal systems and their management. The management of most Mediterranean regions has been marked by strongly sectorial and fragmented management visions and practices, together with lack of coordination between the responsible administrations and very little public engagement. As a result, mismanagement practices have often derived in a number of ecosystem failures –such as the disappearance of precious beaches- as well as a number of social conflicts. Business as usual assessment methods have proved insufficient to deal with the persistent social-ecological problems of coastal management. This dissertation argues that this has been so because the predominant assumptions, tools and methods used so far have mostly been based on reductionist approaches which are too expert-knowledge dependent and are driven mostly or only by economic criteria. Furthermore, the assessment of problems and risks of coasts have mostly focused on the physical environment, thus avoiding an in-depth understanding of the whole social system dynamics, and leading to the implementation of engineering solutions. The present dissertation applies complex system thinking and Integrated Assessment (IA) to the field of coastal management. It emphasises the social perspective and analyses the added value of integrating public perceptions into the processes of assessing coastal socio-ecological systems. It argues that the Integrated Assessment of coastal systems requires moving away from one-dimensional evaluation methods and to develop innovative assessment approaches capable to understand coasts in as highly complex, multidimensional dynamic systems and explicitly acknowledge their inherent degree of uncertainty. Three case studies have been carried out regarding the assessment of beach quality and coastal erosion. The first one was developed in the area of “Costa Brava”, North-East Spain, a tourist hotspot. The case study addressed the lack of bottom-up approaches to assess beach quality. From this situation the case study set out to include beach-users’ perceptions in order to adapt beach management to local contexts. The methods, which were applied on six beaches, involved a survey of 700 beach-users and a set of in-depth interviews to local stakeholders. The results showed that urban beaches attract different types of beach users than semi-natural beaches, although both groups were highly satisfied with their recreational experience. The main factors influencing the selection of beaches are cleanliness and landscape in both cases and tranquillity is a key factor in semi-natural beaches. The preferences and perceptions appear to be not only influenced by the specific characteristics of each beach such as physical characteristics, environmental variables, facilities, services and landscape but also by the beach-user profile. Beach users’ more attached to the territory, like residents and Catalan people, tend to be more demanding with values that relate to the naturalness of beach, environmental degradation and the provision of facilities. Foreign tourism, however tend to be highly satisfied with urban beaches and do not feel much disturbed by overcrowding. These results point that public perception surveys can be useful tools for coastal managers. They can provide a systematic way to select priorities that are recognised by different segments of society, while at the same time they can help to enhance and protect the ecological functions and biodiversity of coastal systems. Coastal systems should be specifically managed in an adaptive fashion considering the particularities of each beach and avoiding homogenising practices. In this way, conservation strategies could be prioritised in natural environments with recognised natural values or with higher potential for ecological recovery. While in the other hand, ‘hard’ interventionist approaches oriented to enhance recreational beach uses could be pursued in those intensively used beaches, normally located along urban water fronts. The second case deals with coastal erosion. It was carried out in Sitges (Catalonia, Spain) and analyzed a conflict that arose at the beginning of the year 2000 as a reaction to a proposal for V intervention to cope with coastal erosion. The research explored the elements that make it difficult to give integrated responses to coastal erosion. In this case, the research of public perception was based on in-depth interviews. Issues related to the very nature of the coastal systems – complexity and uncertainty of coastal erosion- were addressed. Furthermore, the work explored the drawbacks of the existing assessment approaches and the policy framework on coastal protection in Spain. The main conclusion point out that the Spanish institutional framework has traditionally entailed rigidification strategies that respond to a technocratic paradigm on which is based coastal Spanish policy. At the same time, these practices have sheltered the existing assessment methods that do not satisfy social needs and may create other environmental problems as they do not favour neither public participation nor interdisciplinarity in such assessment processes. The case study showed that the technical knowledge does not fit enough to find robust solutions that satisfy both social needs and technical requirements. The complexity of coastal erosion risks demands to move beyond the existing assessment frameworks where the role of the experts need to be reformulated. This process should open up the debate to other disciplines and knowledge which may bring more adaptive alternatives more in coherence with natural dynamics of coastal systems. The third case was carried out in the Lido of Séte (France) and explored the suitability of applying participatory MultiCriteria Analysis (MCA) to assess different strategies to cope with coastal erosion risks. It aimed at improving the integration of diverse sources of knowledge and expertise as well as values so as to enhance the social-ecological robustness of the processes that lead to the definition of relevant policy options to deal with those risks. The methods used involved the Social Multicriteria Evaluation tool of Naiade combined with in-depths interviews and focus groups.