LIFE Adapt Cala Millor

Cala Millor is a coastal tourist center in the Balearic Islands that sees its population multiply during the summer, and it is an example of a transformed ecosystem where the lack of information when acting led to the alteration of the beach's natural dune system. This led to the reduction of the dry beach and a risk to tourist resources. In 2004, a scientific report examined possible actions to mitigate erosion problems related to the natural dynamics of the beach. In 2010, a landscape management policy identified the territorial transformation operations necessary to achieve an improvement in the general landscape conditions. The LIFE AdaptCalaMillor project brings together efforts to draft the project to take a step forward in solutions for urban beach adaptation, with the ultimate goal of transforming the urban environment of Cala Millor to achieve long-term resilience to the effects of climate change through the development of science-based, integrated, sustainable, and stakeholder-centered guidelines. 

The LIFE AdaptCalaMillor project aims to build a long-term climate change adaptation project on the urban beach of Cala Millor, applying a series of integrated, science-based guidelines and incorporating them into a draft project agreed upon through governance and participatory processes. To this end, the project will involve all relevant stakeholders from the early stages to investigate the most suitable solutions to define the adaptation measures to be implemented in Cala Millor, which will represent an opportunity to improve the coastal areas of the Balearic Islands. The project will use a multidisciplinary methodology, a multilevel governance framework, and a process to transition from adaptation proposals to ready-to-implement adaptation projects to replicate in regional, national, and European urban beaches. The specific objectives of the project include the implementation of a high-quality project, the learning of an active process to engage society and stakeholders, the identification of the scope and implications of global change, the development of a catalog of possible adaptation strategies, and the selection and design of adaptation strategies with nature-based and science-based solutions. 

The LIFE AdaptCalaMillor consortium is made up of 10 partners, including regional and local authorities, business associations, research institutes, and environmental foundations. The coordination of the project falls under the "Department of Business, Employment, and Energy." General Directorate of Circular Economy, Energy Transition, and Climate Change. In addition to the municipalities of Son Servera and Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, the Tourism Consortium of the Bay of Cala Millor, and the business and hotel associations of Cala Millor and sa Coma, five research partners also participate: SOCIB, UIB, CSIC-IMEDEA, IHCantabria, LANDLAB, and the CONAMA Foundation. 

The LIFE program is the only EU funding source dedicated exclusively to the environment and climate change, and it has financed more than 900 projects in Spain since 1992. The LIFE AdaptCalaMillor project has been selected for funding. The project has been chosen for its credibility and expected impact, as well as for its sustainability and potential for replication in other sectors or locations. The Government of the Balearic Islands will also contribute financially to the development of the project. 

The project "Participatory and Multilevel Governance Process to Design a Transformative Climate Change Adaptation Project on Cala Millor Beach from an Integrated and Multidisciplinary Science-Based Approach - LIFE AdaptCalaMillor" (LIFE21 GIC/ES/101074227) is co-financed by the European Union's LIFE Program.