The present booklet aims to spread coastal adaptation-through-restoration plans, aligning adaptation with climate mitigation. It was produced through the collaboration of scientists from 38 different institutions located in 11 different countries. Some of the authors focus on technical engineering aspects but others investigate social sciences, finance, and political topics – making our efforts truly interdisciplinary.

Within the REST-COAST (Large scale RESToration of COASTal ecosystems through rivers to sea connectivity) project, the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) is a partner focused on the Black Sea region, where the project has Foros Bay as a prominent Pilot Site. Nevertheless, the project features Pilot Sites across Europe spanning West Europe (Arcachon Bay, Rhone Delta and Ebro Delta), North Europe (Wadden Sea and Vistula Lagoon) and East-Central Europe (Venice lagoon, Sicily Lagoons and Nahal Dalia).

The project, as summarised in this booklet, investigates the technical, financial, planning, management, governance, and engagement aspects required for large scale coastal restoration. Which technical possibilities are there? What are the political and financial hurdles? How can they be overcome? To find answers, we combine field data, numerical tools and stakeholder requirements to enhance the application of coastal restoration in the nine project Pilots and beyond. The present booklet reports the application of project insights to the Black Sea region and discusses how some of REST-COASTs strategies can be efficiently transferred there.