Our Research

COAST Card is an innovative, stakeholder-driven tool designed to monitor, forecast, and report the impact of management decisions on coastal and ocean sustainability. It addresses the increasing risks posed by climate change, population growth, pollution, and consumption patterns. 

The tool merges three approaches: status assessment through report cards, societal guidance through social network analyses, and prioritized actions using system dynamics models. The synergistic impact of these approaches enables forecasting the effectiveness of future management regimes on ecological, economic, and social aspects. 

COAST Card has been applied to Chesapeake Bay (USA) and Manila Bay (Philippines), with plans for implementation in Tokyo Bay and Ishigaki Island (Japan), and the Goa coast (India). The project outputs include dynamic COAST Cards, a development training program, and an implementation framework. The dissemination plan involves science communication products,  peer-reviewed papers, teaching and training initiatives, and an interactive learning environment to promote global emulation. The collaborative process involves stakeholders from social sciences, humanities, economy, natural sciences, technology, and societal partners, fostering new knowledge production for social learning. The ultimate goal is to accelerate sustainable and equitable use of oceans and coastal systems amid rapid global changes through behavior change and collective action.