Intra-departmental coastal experts from the University of Malta recently participated in the Second Coastal-COVER Malta Mission meeting held from 2 May to 4 May 2023, at the Public Works Department, Ministry for Public Works and Planning, in Floriana. Coastal-COVER is a TSI-funded project aimed at implementing a national coastal protection strategy in response to Coastal-Climate Overall Vulnerability and Exposure Risk.
The University of Malta team, consisting of Prof. Pauline Galea and Prof. Sebastiano D鈥橝mico from the Department of Geosciences in the Faculty of Science, and Dr Ritienne Gauci from the Department of Geography in the Faculty of Arts, along with Ms Daniela Ghirxi as Research Support Officer, represented the university at the event. Over the past 18 months, the UM team has been working closely with the Public Works Department (PWD), Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), DG REFORM, Coastal & Marine Union (EUCC), Instituto de Hidr谩ulica Ambiental de la Universidad de Cantabria (IHCantabria), and AKTIS Hydraulics (Aktis) to achieve the ambitious targets of this national project.
The highlight of the Second Coastal-Cover Mission Meeting was the National Workshop on Coastal Protection Strategy, which took place between May 3rd and 4th, and was attended by 55 participants from 36 government and non-government entities, including the project team and experts from various fields.
On the first day of the workshop, the UM team presented its diagnosis findings on Maltese coastal governance, led by Dr Ritienne Gauci in consultation with EUCC, PWD, MTA, DG Reform, Environment and Resource Authority, Planning Authority, and the Ministry for The Environment, Energy and Enterprise. EUCC and PWD jointly presented the results of the integrated risk diagnosis and the identification of risk hotspots, that had been drawn up with the expertise support from the UM team and other entities. These findings formed the basis of discussion in breakout groups, which sought feedback from coastal stakeholders. The workshop and discussions, facilitated by the EUCC team, Prof. Pauline Galea, and Ms Daniela Ghirxi, centred on discussing hotspots for rocky coast erosion, beach erosion, and coastal flooding and finding solutions to the coastal erosion issues faced by local communities.
In the afternoon of the first day, a Strategy Policy Group Meeting was held to discuss the final version of the physical and governance diagnosis reports. These reports were approved by Malta Tourism Authority and Public Works Department as project beneficiaries.
On the second day of the national workshop, focus meetings were held at various coastal sites around Malta, identified as hotspots for coastal protection during the diagnosis phase. These visits provided in situ opportunities for experts and local stakeholders to converge and discuss the challenges faced by coastal communities.
A Third Coastal-COVER Mission Meeting is scheduled for October 2023.
