Modelling and mapping coastal protection: Adapting an EU-Wide model to national specificities

The aim of this research piece is therefore threefold: (i) to map coastal protection at the national level; (ii) to assess the congruence between the regional and national coastal protection estimates for the coastal zone of Greece; and (iii) to qualitatively assess the congruence of our findings with subnational estimates. The overarching questions are therefore: can a Europe-wide model be used to inform decision making at the national or local level, and with what level of certainty? What is the minimum level of “resolution” required to “trust” a model output? In other words, “how much is enough”?

To conclude, EU-wide models could reveal generic patterns of coastal protection across the different countries. However, national-level adaptations need to be happening systematically by adapting the four modelling aspects that was identified: (i) the coastal zone delineation; (ii) the variables included in the analysis; (iii) the terminology used; and (iv) the experts included in generating the data. Similar attempts to validate such EU-wide models, in countries with different geomorphological, biophysical, and social attributes, could reveal additional model aspects that need further adaptations within such models.