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11 th International Symposium for GIS and Computer Cartography for Coastal Zones Managementport the European policy process by providing a method to measure and map the productivity and health of ecosystems,selecting the coastal zone as a testing ground.The full extent of Simplified Ecosystem Capital Accounts (SECA) approach accounts for ecosystem capital depreciationas a result of net loss in physical stocks and resulting ecosystem degradation. Capital depreciation canthus be measured as the costs associated with undertaking remediation measures or avoiding further environmentaldegradation. Ecosystem capital can also increase in case of gains in physical stocks and resulting amelioration.Measuring ecosystem capital in physical units is leading to calculating the composite index of ecosystem capability,which characterizes the status of ecosystem capital in a specific area. When ecosystem capability is comparedover time, changes in ecosystem flows can be used to understand the physical ‘account balance’ of the ecosystemcapital. In a next step, the benefits and costs resulting from the interaction of economic and ecosystem capitals willbe valued and expressed in monetary units e.g. the costs of ecosystem restoration to ensure service provision.Current approach for coastal ecosystem capital accounting is generally set up in 3 phases and several steps: preparatorysteps (e.g. establishing relation between selected ecosystems and their services; selection of proxy indicators);operational steps (e.g. calculation of net accessible physical stocks of ecosystem capital and their flows) andinterpretation of physical accounting results (e.g. determining the ecosystem capability and final expression ofchange in ecosystem capital).EEA is exploring the options for implementing the approach that is outlined above. The main development pathconcerns the ecosystem capital accounts at the European level. Additional effort has been set up for testing thismethod at the coastal zone. Here the aim is to determine how this method could contribute to holistic managementof coastal resources and ecosystem services, as provided by principles of ICZM.First calculations of ecosystem capital (i.e. ecosystem capability) have been carried out for the coastal area by theStrait of Gibraltar, Spain. Preliminary results have revealed current implementation gaps and gave important guidancefor further improvements of methodology and data requirements. Work at Spanish site will continue and isplanned to be coupled with a test area by the Kattegat strait, shared by Denmark and Sweden.Coastal vulnerability assessmentThe starting point for an assessment of European coastal vulnerability to climate change is to identify which aspectsof coastal systems should be prioritized for policy decisions on climate change and risk management. Vulnerabilitydepends on perspective – it can refer to human systems, such as housing, business premises, agricultural land,industry, and ports. Equally, the term vulnerability can also refer to natural ecosystems and the services that theyprovide. Hazard and risk are key concepts in assessing vulnerability of coastal features. Hazard is any source forpotential damage and the magnitude of adverse effects under certain conditions, while risk is the probability of occurrenceof a hazard that can cause adverse consequences.In addition to climate change, other factors also determine coastal vulnerability. Management of the coastal zonecan affect coastal processes such as the sedimentation of deltas, and therefore local patterns of terrestrial inundation(Vandenbruwaene et al., 2011).It is important to have access to methods for reliable assessment of coastal vulnerability and for planning adaptationmeasures. Several methods that are applicable at different scales are available in the literature (for more detailssee: McLeod et al.); these can be roughly grouped in two main categories: (1) Index and indicator-based approaches,including related GIS application and also GIS-based decision support systems; (2) Methods based on dynamiccomputer modelling for sectors or integrated assessment.Index-based approaches express coastal vulnerability by a one-dimensional, and generally unitless, index. This iscalculated through the quantitative or semi-quantitative evaluation and combination of different variables. TheCoastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) approach is one of the most commonly used and simple methods to assess coastalvulnerability to sea level rise, in particular due to erosion and/or inundation (Gornitz et al., 1991).Indicator-based approaches express the vulnerability of the coast by a set of independent elements (i.e. the indicators)that characterise key coastal issues such as coastal drivers, pressures, state, impacts, responses, exposure, sensitivity,risk and damage. These indicators are in some cases combined into a final summary indicator. This approachallows the evaluation of different aspects related to coastal vulnerability within a consistent assessment context andconceptual framework (e.g. cause–effect framework DPSIR).Relevant examples at the European level include applications in the Eurosion and Deduce projects (Eurosion,2004; Deduce Consortium, 2007). GIS tools may support the spatial application of index and indicator based methodsbut also used to develop GIS-based decision support systems.55