As part of the A-AAGORA Spring School, the University of Aveiro hosted a High-Level Policy Workshop dedicated to the enabling conditions needed to scale up coastal ecosystem restoration solutions.
The session took place on 23 April 2026, at the Academic Acts Hall of the Rectorate Building of the University of Aveiro, and brought together Spring School participants, researchers, experts and representatives from organisations working in coastal management, innovation, science, regional governance and European projects.
The programme included two discussion panels. The first panel, “Protecting and restoring coastal ecosystems to deliver healthy biodiversity: sources of inspiration”, presented examples, experiences and sources of inspiration for the protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems. After the initial interventions, participants from the A-AAGORA Spring School contributed to the debate through questions addressed to the panellists, bringing their own perspectives, contexts and experiences into the discussion.
The first panel featured Linn Bruholt, from UiT The Arctic University of Norway; Patrícia Castro, from the Intermunicipal Community of the Aveiro Region (CIRA); Mihai Nicolescu, from the University Politehnica of Bucharest; Martin Buca, from Split-Dalmatia County; and Darragh O’Súilleabháin, from Cork County Council (CCC).
The second panel, “Setting the right conditions to scale up coastal ecosystem restoration”, focused on the conditions needed to scale up coastal restoration actions. This panel featured Adriana Alcalde, from the Municipality of Llanes and the Philippe Cousteau Foundation; Renato Pires, from the Regional Fund for Science and Technology of the Vice-Presidency of the Regional Government; Maria Manuel Cruz, from the Port of Aveiro; Ana Figueiredo, from the Intermunicipal Community of the Coimbra Region; Manuel Freitas de Sousa, from Asociación Amicos, on behalf of the Regional Government of Galicia; and Inês Machado, from WavEC, representing the CLIMAREST project.
By fostering dialogue between different institutions, territories and fields of expertise, the workshop enabled the exchange of experiences on the challenges and opportunities associated with the protection, recovery and sustainable management of coastal areas.
This moment strengthened the dialogue between science, society and public policy, promoting exchange among different stakeholders and helping translate scientific knowledge into concrete strategies for more resilient coastal territories.