Coastal municipal governance, Salacgrīva, Latvia

Salacgrīva, Latvia, is a rural municipality at the Gulf of Riga with 12 000 inhabitants. With respect to environmental and collaboration governance it is the most advanced in Latvia, having a green municipality declaration (approved in 2010), a climate change adaptation strategy (2011) and a sustainable development strategy 2030, as well as a regional coastal tourism strategy under preparation. Climate change induced sea-level rise, storm surges and resulting risk of flooding and destruction of coastal infrastructure are the major risks. Adapting to climate change while simultaneously enabling multiple uses in the Gulf of Riga, is a major challenge. Using the SAF, alternative scenarios for multiple uses will be developed and one major conflicting issue will be explored in more detail. Focus is to explore and evaluate three different municipality governance approaches and to integrate the SAF/ICM into local spatial planning. The work will be carried out in close co-operation with the municipality.

CSS Salacgrīva kick-off presentation