Saltwater intrusion and climate change: monitoring, countermeasures and informed governance
The standard Projects MoST, Asteris, and Change We Care developed within the Interreg V-A IT-HR (MAC IT-HR in the following) allowed significant advances both in i) the characterization of the process of saltwater intrusion under the effects of climate change in the Adriatic low-lying coastal areas of Italy and Croatia and ii) proposing best practices for facing this scourge. Specifically, the monitoring networks established by these three Projects helped to design and realize countermeasures aimed at mitigating the salinization of farmland soils and water bodies, thus enhancing agricultural productivity. In addition, from the gained experiences, specific guidelines were developed by each of the three projects at the local scale considered in each pilot site.SeCure, which is allocated in the Cluster Adaptation to climate changes "governance and capacity building", is aimed to maximize i) the main outcomes and the experiences developed in MAC IT-HR projects, ii) synergies between the projects to enhance visibility and transferability, fully exploit and consolidate the results achieved so far, and increase the knowledge base on the saltwater contamination of the northern Adriatic coastlands in preparation for the next programming period, in particular Specific objective 2.4.