THE PROGRAM

Global coasts as a new frontier – GCNF

Balancing environment and development across the ocean and land

The Program

The Global coasts as a new frontier (GCNF) Strategic Program aims to drive coastal resilience, safeguarding communities and fostering development through the first-ever digital twin of the coastal ocean, harnessing advanced modeling and AI.

Focusing on risk assessment, observation, forecasting, adaptation planning, the Program aims to build tailored solutions (e.g. what-if scenarios) to manage and solve complex and non-linear environmental and socio-economic challenges in coastal areas.

The in-between ocean and lands

Coasts are more than just a boundary between land and sea, representing the intersection of physical, social, and economic processes that determine both a substantial part of the global economy and its vulnerability to climate change.

Coastal areas support rich ecosystems, a substantial part of the global population, and countless economic activities: 12 of the world’s 15 largest cities and 40% of humans call coastal areas their home, approximately 90% of freight trade passes through coastal ports. And yet 11% of people living in these regions are directly and severely exposed to hazards connected with climate change.

“New frontiers”

With a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, the Program sees in coastal areas a strategic research direction, enhancing its research for economically beneficial and viable coastal ecosystem restoration that improves coastal protection, biodiversity, and carbon absorption.

This involves the development of multidisciplinary digital twins of the global coastal ocean, integrating new satellites and in-situ observations (including citizen science), and developing advanced modeling and artificial intelligence methods to provide tools, information and solutions for decision-makers.

NADIR: Programma di Citizen science per scuole e cittadini finalizzato al monitoraggio degli ecosistemi marino-costieri, qualità delle acque

I servizi ecosistemici marini: studio e analisi delle metodologie di valutazione biofisica ed economica, predisposizione di un tool per l’automazione del processo di valutazione

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PEOPLE

Our team

Meet the experts advancing the Program

Contact us → [email protected]

Giovanni Coppini

Director

Federica Stella Blasi

Program Manager

Program Administrative Manager

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PUBLICATIONS

Research output

Access the program's latest publications

Publication highlights

Latest published articles

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PARTNERS

Key partnerships

Explore the Program's strategic collaborations

The Program is building a strong network of strategic partnerships in Italy and around the world, with a strong foundation in institutional collaborations, while also strengthening ties with major industry players such as Fugro, Capgemini, Leonardo, Prysmian, e-GEOS, and Planetek.

A selection of key institutional partnerships includes: