The new system also takes into account physical and non-physical drivers such as climate change, subsidence (undermining and sinking of land due to flooding), population and economic growth.

Developed through the EU-funded THESEUS project, the team of researchers looked at how coastal flooding not only damages buildings and engineering structures, but also the environment and the ecological balance in Europe.

According to the project team, each region in Europe faces a different set of challenges on account of their individual geographical and physical parameters, which makes coastal flooding problems diverse and multifaceted.

The team looked at a wide range of individual issues and solutions, taking into account scientific, social, economic, environmental and cultural aspects which broadened the research spectrum.

However, the research and information produced by the THESEUS project does not claim to solve all these problems. “What it has done is create a one-stop-shop of comprehensive data gathered over the period of research,” it states.

The new THESEUS Decision Support System (DSS) is a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based tool.

THESEUS project coordinator, Barbara Zanuttigh, assistant professor at University of Bologna, Italy, said: “This tool will help decision makers input all the conditions they are dealing with so the short, medium and long-term effects of building or developing within coastal communities could be identified,” says Zanuttigh.

“The THESEUS DSS is intended as a vehicle for communication, training, forecasting and experimentation,” adds Zanuttigh.

Leigh Stringer

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