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Project properties |
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| Title | Indicators of social wellbeing and economic development in coastal restoration |
| Group | Soil Physics and Land Management group |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 24-39 |
| Supervisor(s) | Johanna Schild |
| Examiner(s) | Coen Ritsema |
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| Begin date | 2020/02/09 |
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| Description | Problem context
The Mar Menor coastal lagoon is a unique ecosystem that hosts several endemic species and provides various recreational services to the local population and tourists. In 2016, the lagoon underwent an ecological crash after 40 years of continuous nutrient inputs, coming mainly from irrigated agricultural areas that started flourishing in the catchment area of the lagoon in the early 80's. The current poor environmental status of the lagoon strongly affects other sectors, like tourism, fisheries and local populations. Restoration of the socio-ecosystem to provide environmental, social, and economic benefits is therefore one of the main environmental challenges. In order to identify opportunities for more sustainable land and coastal management, socio-economic factors that play a key role in tourism and agriculture need to be investigated. Research Objective/Question This research is part of the European H2020 COASTAL project, which aims to identify novel synergies between coastal and rural areas that promote a more sustainable social and economic development and restoration of the lagoon. System dynamic (SD) models are being developed in a participatory setting, which include the main drivers, pressures and impacts coming from and affecting different sectors, such as local populations, tourism, agriculture and fisheries. The main objective of the proposed project is to look for qualitative and quantitative indicators of social wellbeing and economic development in coastal areas, that are of importance for promoting more sustainable land management practices in the lagoon and that may contribute to restoration. Especially, tourism and agriculture will be focused on. What is expected from the student (type of research) The work will involve reviewing and selecting potential indicators for social wellbeing and economic development and contributing to SD model development. The student should be proactive and willing to learn about economic and social development indicators, be able to summarize information and perform statistical data analysis. |
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