On 3 December 2025, municipalities, regional governments, provincial administrations, the national administration, companies and research centres, among other organisations, took part in a workshop on coastal governance at Conama Local Viladecans 2025.
The event, held within the framework of the LIFE Adapt Cala Millor project, was organised by the Fundación Conama with the collaboration of ICATALIST S.L., which is part of the Mission Implementation Platform and the Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, within the framework of the MIP4Adapt Technical Assistance.
The aim of the workshop was to analyse and discuss governance, competences and administrative coordination challenges related to climate change adaptation in coastal areas, using real cases developed in different parts of the country. In addition to the adaptation case in Cala Millor (LIFE Adapt Cala Millor), the workshop addressed the Magaluf seafront (Calvià), coastal restoration in Vilanova i la Geltrú, and the renaturalisation of the Las Galletas coastal front (Government of the Canary Islands).
Following presentations on the legal and governance framework of coastal areas, working groups and participatory dynamics were organised to map competences, stakeholders and responsibility flows, as well as to identify bottlenecks and propose agreements, tools and leverage points for action.
In this way, participants identified key competences, stakeholders and barriers in coastal adaptation projects, analysed regulatory, administrative, political and social obstacles, and explored tools, agreements and collaboration mechanisms that could help move from planning to action, while extracting lessons that may be replicated in other coastal territories.
Identifying barriers to overcome challenges
Implementing climate change adaptation projects in coastal areas involves a high level of institutional complexity. In these areas, the state ownership of the maritime-terrestrial public domain, regional competences in environment, spatial planning and climate change, and municipal competences in urban planning, urban management and public use converge, alongside the involvement of provincial councils, island councils, public and private companies and social stakeholders.
This complexity is compounded by slow and complex administrative procedures, the overlap of planning instruments —plans, projects and assessments—, different interpretations of the Coastal Law among regions, and the need for nature-based solutions to clearly fit within existing regulatory frameworks.
Additional technical, political, strategic and social barriers were also identified, including conflicts between economic interests —particularly tourism and infrastructure— and resilience criteria, changes in political priorities over the medium term, and resistance to change from users, economic sectors or residents, among others.
Despite these challenges, several tools were highlighted to help overcome them, including integrated planning, inter-administrative coordination, administrative streamlining, and clear role definition from the early stages of projects.
Similarly, applied and multidisciplinary research, with stronger connections between universities, research centres and public administrations, the early involvement of local stakeholders, economic sectors and citizens, and clear communication of projects as opportunities for regeneration rather than restrictions, were identified as measures that can help address these obstacles.
LIFE Adapt Cala Millor, a project under development
The case of Cala Millor also illustrates complex governance due to the diversity of actors involved: the national administration, the Government of the Balearic Islands, the Island Council, the municipalities of Son Servera and Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, the hotel sector, residents, environmental NGOs, recreational services, research centres and universities.
Additional challenges include urban planning processes, environmental procedures, the difficulty of defining the general interest when faced with competing stakeholder interests, and the lack of clarity about who leads the process in its initial stages.
Although the project is still under development, the need to define leadership from the outset, anticipate legal and technical coordination before entering the project phase, and work on social legitimacy from the early stages were identified as potential solutions.
Based on this case and the other examples discussed, it became clear that coastal adaptation is not only a technical challenge but fundamentally a governance challenge. It was also highlighted that nature-based solutions require time, trust and awareness-building both within public administrations and across society.
The workshop stressed the need to create collaborative working spaces to advance climate change adaptation in coastal areas. Adaptation progresses when clear—although shared—leadership exists, stable alliances are built and projects are communicated as opportunities.