The Ficoba venue will host the seventh edition of the International Congress on Climate Change and Coastline, Uhinak, on October 8th and 9th. The event will bring together representatives from the scientific community, public administrations, and the business sector to analyze the changes occurring in the ocean and, crucially, the necessary responses to their effects on coastal areas.
This seventh edition of the congress will reinforce its international character and practical orientation by combining two main scientific presentations with two round tables. The round tables will focus on ongoing adaptation projects and the strategies and governance models that will guide coastal management in the coming years.
Antonio Turiel, a scientific researcher from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) at the Institute of Marine Sciences of Barcelona, will be one of the keynote speakers. His presentation, titled «Recent changes in global ocean circulation and in the North Atlantic: have we already passed a tipping point?», will delve into the scientific debate on potential acceleration of climate change and global ocean circulation, utilizing satellite data.
The second keynote will be delivered by Melisa Menéndez, a researcher from the Environmental Hydraulics Institute of the University of Cantabria (IHCantabria). Her presentation, «Climate variability in extreme sea level and wave events», will focus on the impacts on the coastline, the interaction of marine dynamics, and methods for estimating the probability and magnitude of extreme events.
The congress will feature two new round tables specifically aimed at municipalities and coastal towns. These sessions will address the challenges faced by local administrations and showcase implemented adaptation experiences. Participants will include Iratxe García de Vicuña (Zarautz City Council), Sara Taylor (Welsh Government), and Nicolás Castay (GIP Littoral Nouvelle Aquitaine). The second round table, focusing on strategies and governance for the future coast, will feature Mikel Gargallo (Basque Government), Marimar Alonso (Ihobe), Nerea Egia (Gipuzkoa Provincial Council), and Caroline Sarrade (Communauté d’Agglomération Pays Basque).
The program for this seventh edition will also include 40 oral communications and 25 posters, organized around themes such as climate change challenges, adaptation to extreme coastal phenomena, mitigation and resilience, governance, management tools, and communication.
Uhinak is promoted by Ficoba and the technology center AZTI, with the support of institutions including the Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability of the Basque Government (Ihobe), the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the Communauté d’Agglomération Pays Basque, and the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
