Nature-Based Solutions for Mediterranean Coastal Adaptation: Bridging Ecosystem Processes and Resilience Through LIFE Project Implementation

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are increasingly recognised as effective approaches for enhancing coastal resilience while simultaneously supporting biodiversity, ecosystem services, and, where appropriate, climate-change mitigation. Their importance is particularly evident in the Mediterranean Basin, a climate-change hotspot exposed to sea-level rise, coastal erosion, land subsidence, sediment deficits, and intense anthropogenic pressures. This review provides a structured evidence synthesis of NbS for Mediterranean coastal adaptation, integrating ecological, hydrodynamic, geomorphological, biodiversity, governance, and implementation perspectives. We examine the principal NbS typologies, including vegetated habitats, biogenic reefs, sediment-based interventions, and hybrid approaches, with particular attention to vulnerable microtidal systems such as coastal lagoons and subsiding shorelines, including the Venice Lagoon and the Emilia-Romagna coast. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature together with evidence from European LIFE projects and restoration initiatives, the review highlights how process-based interventions can restore ecosystem functioning, strengthen coastal resilience, and provide multiple ecosystem services. At the same time, the analysis emphasises that NbS are inherently context-dependent, with their effectiveness influenced by local geomorphology, sediment availability, hydrodynamic conditions, governance capacity, and long-term management. Although important scientific uncertainties remain, wider implementation is increasingly constrained by economic, institutional, and governance barriers. The review concludes that NbS should not be regarded as stand-alone alternatives to conventional engineering, but as key components of integrated and adaptive hybrid coastal management strategies capable of supporting resilient Mediterranean coastal systems under future climate change.