Coastal landscapes resilience: a method for analysis and evaluation

The coastal landscapes can be interpreted as geographical spaces with high sensitivity. The pressure of urbanization in these high fragility territories determines serious environmental crises. The high density of the values (quality of landscapes, ecosystem services production, concentrated presence of resources) is constantly threatened not only by climate change but also above all by the same urbanization processes. Here, resilience is understood, within a systemic approach, as the ability of an ecosystem (or more precisely, a social system and ecosystem at the same time) to adapt by change its internal relations and maintaining the identity values of an area. The paper explores the potential of a method of analysis and evaluation in which, starting from the recognition of the heritage elements, the system of values are compared with the conditions of risk and degradation (due to environmental and man-made drivers) with the result of building maps of vulnerability and resilience. Formal ontologies are a useful tool used to organize, produce, share knowledge and are the basis of the method, applied to an area of the eastern coast of Liguria.