Resilient Coasts: Adapting Communities and Livelihoods to Climate Change

Coastal communities worldwide face increasing climate risks such as rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and intensified storms, threatening nearly one billion people globally. Enhancing community resilience — the capacity to anticipate, withstand, and transform in response to climate disturbances — is therefore vital and aligns closely with international frameworks including the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite advances in climate adaptation research, critical gaps remain: initiatives often lack integration of local and indigenous knowledge, suffer from top-down implementation approaches, and face governance and resource constraints, leading to disjointed or ineffective outcomes. Additionally, social science perspectives addressing behaviour, risk perception, economic diversity, and social equity remain underrepresented. Emerging solutions offer promise, particularly nature-based strategies such as mangrove and wetland restoration, participatory planning, knowledge co-production involving diverse stakeholders, and livelihood diversification to enhance economic resilience. Technological innovations, such as artificial intelligence and language-processing tools, also provide novel ways to improve public engagement, knowledge synthesis, scenario planning, and policy analysis. These inclusive and integrative approaches align with global frameworks, notably the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, paving the way for resilient coastal communities.

This research topic aims to advance interdisciplinary knowledge on community resilience and climate adaptation in coastal areas. We seek innovative methodologies and evidence-based solutions that bridge science, policy, and community practice. Contributions should illuminate actionable pathways to strengthen resilience, enhance socio-economic security, and ensure equity and inclusivity in adaptation efforts.

We invite manuscripts (original research, reviews, policy analyses, or case studies) focusing on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

• Case studies highlighting effective adaptation practices and lessons learned.

• Innovative governance structures and policy approaches to coastal climate adaptation.

• Integration of Indigenous and community-based knowledge into adaptation planning.

• Strategies for effective risk communication and public engagement.

• Development and assessment of metrics for community resilience.

• Economic diversification strategies and sustainable livelihood solutions.

• Equity, justice, and inclusion in adaptation initiatives.

• Technological innovations supporting adaptation, including artificial intelligence, large language models (LLMs), geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, mobile applications, and other digital or data-driven tools.

Other relevant contributions within this scope are also encouraged.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: coastal resilience, climate adaptation, community-based adaptation, participatory governance, indigenous knowledge

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.