Louis Celliers

Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon | HZG · GERICS

The expansion of cities in Sub-Saharan Africa has led to an increase in impervious surfaces, intensifying stormwater management challenges, especially in informal settlements situated in ecologically sensitive areas like wetlands. This urban growth has heightened flood risks and negatively impacted biodiversity, water quality, and socio-economic co...

Millions of people travel to European beaches making beach tourism the largest tourism sector. Understanding how person's thermal comfort changes with projected climate change, which is paramount in deciding where and when to visit, can help the tourism sector mitigate risk and identify opportunities. Sustainable adaptation strategies for coastal t...

Editorial: Co-designing climate services: Concepts and practices of the ERA4CS projects

Coastal governance plays a central role in building the capacities for adaptation and transformation towards climate resilience in coastal social-ecological systems (SES). However, enhancing climate resilience requires effective coordination between organisations involved in coastal governance. Therefore, more information about the role and agency...

Anticipation of futures using transdisciplinary approaches is critical to provide the basis for appropriate action to cope with current and future risks and to foster sustainability transformations. Coasts in the Global South in particular are subjected to severe environmental and societal challenges exacerbated by climate change. Yet, traditional...

Climate change poses increasingly severe risks for coastal ecosystems and coastal communities all around the globe. This condition requires implementing climate adaptation policy and advancing scientific knowledge to adapt to the current and future climate risks. However, implementing climate adaptation policy in coastal areas is still in its infan...

Post-industrial society is driving global environmental change, which is a challenge for all generations, current and future. The Anthropocene is the geological epoch in which humans dominate and it is rooted in the past, present, and future. Future sustainability is building on the momentum of the fundamental importance of studying human dynamics...

Knowledge co-production has become part of an evolution of participatory and transdisciplinary research approaches that are increasingly important for achieving sustainability. To effectively involve the most appropriate stakeholders there is a need for engagement and increasing prominence of stakeholders in environmental management and governance...

There is a complex interaction between pollution, climate change, the environment and people. This complex interplay of actions and impacts is particularly relevant in coastal regions, where the land meets the sea. To achieve sustainable development in coastal systems, a better understanding is necessary of the role and impact of pollution and the...

The socioeconomics of the Anthropocene is exposing coastal regions to multiple pressures, including climate change hazards, resource degradation, urban development and inequality. Tourism is often raised as either a panacea to, or exacerbator of, such threats to ecosystems and sustainable livelihoods. To better understand the impacts of tourism on...

Enhancing the resilience of complex social‐ecological systems (SES) to climate change requires transformative changes. Yet, there are knowledge gaps on how best to achieve transformation. In this study, we present an approach for assessing governance performance in SES and identifying leverage points to ultimately enhance climate resilience. The ap...

Climate change increasingly impacts both the people and nature in the Algoa Bay social-ecological system (SES). Coastal & ocean governance play a critical role for enhancing the resilience to climate change in the SES. A stakeholder network analysis can facilitate the mapping of stakeholder interactions in the governance system. The aim of the stud...

Climate services to support coastal municipalities in South Africa GERICS assists with climate services as it analyses climate change information to support coastal municipalities in South Africa, where planning and development are key to avoiding climate change risks in coastal cities. As coastal cities in the Western Indian Ocean and climate serv...

The Copernicus Ocean State Report is an annual publication of the Copernicus Marine Service, established in 2014 by the European Commission for Copernicus 1 and renewed in 2021 for Copernicus 2. The report provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art, scientific overview on the current conditions, natural variations, and ongoing changes in the global...

The ocean impacts human well‐being and sustainability by influencing weather, climate, the economy, health and safety. Ocean and coastal observations play a critical role in enabling decision‐makers to understand ocean and coastal issues and shape effective policies. This chapter explores how ocean and coastal observations relate to the development...

Several intergovernmental agreements highlight the need for resilience in the face of environmental and societal challenges. Coastal systems are particularly complex and susceptible to global climate change, and building human resilience to future changes is of high priority. While the concept of resilience has historically been associated with sta...

Climate information plays a foundational role in achieving a green recovery and climate neutrality in Europe, and a central one for a climate resilient Europe. This role can materialize if climate information is delivered appropriately and used effectively. Climate services, understood as the provision of climate information for use in decision mak...

This publication can be quoted as: Máñez Costa, M.; Oen, A.M.P.; Neset, T.-S.; Celliers, L.; Suhari, M; Huang-Lachmann, J-T.; Pimentel, R.; Blair, B.; Jeuring, J.; Rodriguez-Camino, E.; Photiadou, C.; Columbié, Y.J.; Gao, C.; Tudose, N.-C.; Cheval, S., Votsis, A.; West, J.; Lee, K.; Shaffrey, L.C.; Auer, C.; Hoff, H.; Menke, I.; Walton, P.; Schuck-...

This research summary captures the key findingsof the project “Emerging Knowledge for LocalAdaptation” (EKLA), which was implemented inKenya, Mauritius and South Africa between 2014and 2018 and funded by the Western Indian OceanMarine Science Association (WIOMSA).Learnings from the EKLA project emphasized theimportant role that local governments pl...

Climate services are tools or products that aim to support climate‐informed decision making for the adaptation to climate change. The market for climate services is dominated by public institutions, despite the efforts made by the European Commission to increase private enterprise in the market. The business model perspective has been proposed as a...

Hybrid science-society approaches for knowledge production are often framed by a transdisciplinary approach. Most forms of “linear” progression of science informing policy or the “production” of knowledge as a one-way process are increasingly being challenged. This is also true for coastal and marine sciences informing decision-making to support su...

Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment. UN - Division for Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea (DOALOS).

Non-technical summary The ‘last mile’ is a transportation planning term that describes the movement of people and goods from a transportation hub to a final destination; a local place such as a home or a shop. This is the final step of the logistics process that unites the product with its new owner. We present and explain challenges of science-gui...

Context Participatory modeling approaches provide opportunities for collective action responding to challenges of community resource limitations. In the context of climate change, challenges arise from the potential limitations of water availability and resulting conflicts within the agricultural sector. Northeast Lower Saxony is the region with th...

Climate services were initially established with the aim to make the vast amount of climate data, projections and other climate science output publicly available to support the development of responses to society’s vulnerability to climate change. In Europe embraced the concept was not only embraced to provide access to scientific knowledge and red...

This policy paper proposes to establish a framework of integrated ocean and coastal management with which to greatly accelerate the establishment of a just, well-managed and sustainable blue and green economy for the Western Indian Ocean region.

Abstract The lack of capacity for climate change adaptation at the subnational level has been highlighted as a key barrier to implementing the UNFCCC National Adaptation Plans. At the same time, the adaptive capacity of local governance is highly context sensitive, making a “one‐size fits all” approach inappropriate. Thus, a versatile methodologica...

The IPCC 1.5°C Report lists identifying local capacity needs as key for enabling multi-level governance to effectively respond to climate change. Mauritius, as a Small Island State, is disproportionately affected by climate change, primarily due to its exposure to impacts, as well as various constraints in size and resources. Identifying and integr...

The workshop on Earth Observation and Coastal Climate Services for Small Islands, held in Guadeloupe in November 2019, brought together 35 participants constituting stakeholders predominantly from the Caribbean with representation from the Pacific and Indian Ocean region, as well as providers of climate and earth observation services. The workshop...

We live on a blue planet, and Earth’s waters benefit many sectors of society. The future of our blue planet is increasingly reliant on the services delivered by marine, coastal and inland waters and on the advancement of effective, evidence-based decisions on sustainable development. ‘Oceans and Society: Blue Planet’ is an initiative of the Group o...

The importance of stakeholder engagement in ocean observation and in particular the realization of economic and societal benefits is discussed, introducing a number of overarching principles such as the convergence on common goals, effective communication, co-production of information and knowledge and the need for innovation. A series of case stud...

Rapid urbanization and climate change together increase the vulnerability of poor urban communities to natural hazards, undermining urban resilience. It is therefore critical to identify and deepen our understanding of the main variables, and the complex interactions between them, producing and shaping the vulnerability of poor urban communities to...

A participação pública tem vindo a assumir uma importância crescente no contexto dos processos de planeamento e gestão territorial. No caso específico das zonas costeiras, muitos países conferem um papel central ao envolvimento dos stakeholders nos processos de planeamento. Algo que envolve um elevado grau de complexidade, designadamente em resulta...

The effects of climate change on coastal zones have highlighted the need for policy agendas, at various scales of governance, to adopt adaptation measures. Of particular importance are the effects associated with sea level rise, as well as those resulting from the increase in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, increasing their vulne...

Urbanization and climate change are compounding the vulnerability of flooding for the urban poor, particularly in the Global South. However, local governance can be a greater determinant of flood risk than the hazard itself. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in local governance for water management is therefore crucial. This paper presents a gov...

Many countries are implementing Integrated Coastal Management (ICM, also known as Integrated Coastal Zone Management or ICZM) as a means to promote the sustainable use, development and protection of coastal environments. It has also been shown that there is a policy and institutional relationship between ICM and climate change adaptation. This pape...

As zonas costeiras e, em particular, as regiões estuarinas apresentam-se particularmente suscetíveis aos efeitos das alterações climáticas, com destaque para os efeitos decorrentes da subida do nível médio do mar. Algo que coloca um conjunto de novos e complexos desafios em diferentes domínios, nomeadamente às políticas de ordenamento e planeamento...

The coastline of Kenya already experiences effects of climate change, adding to existing pressures such as urbanization. Integrated coastal management (ICM) is increasingly recognized as a key policy response to deal with the multiple challenges facing coastal zones, including climate change. It can create an enabling governance environment for eff...

As zonas costeiras, em particular as zonas estuarinas, apresentam-se vulneráveis às alterações climáticas, designadamente aos efeitos da subida do nível médio do mar. Tal tem levado à adoção de medidas de adaptação para aumentar a resiliência destes territórios, de que é exemplo a implementação de linhas de gestão costeira. Neste contexto, analisa-...

This book provides a timely and valuable assessment of the current state of the art in applying geoinformatics tools and methods to management of marine areas. Its focus is on the cutting-edge coverage of a wide spectrum of activities/topics that constitute the complex socio-ecological system of sustainable coastal management. The book presents a c...

Research is a key resource in a knowledge economy and governance system. In order to enable research to benefit the nation and to contribute to growing the knowledge-based economy (the aims of the Global Change Grand Challenge, and specifically the Society and Sustainability Research Programme), the gap between research, knowledge production and po...

Coastal areas are characterised by an abundance of natural resources that attract human interest and result in exploitation such resources. Coastal areas are also under intense anthropogenic pressure. Population densities on the coast are three times higher than the global average. Coasts are also popular destinations for tourism and recreational a...

The 2nd South Africa Environment Outlook (SAEO) report provides a national ‘big picture’ snapshot of how South Africa is performing in terms of short- and long-term responses to changing conditions and to assess the effects of human interventions and management actions.This chapter deal with Ocean and Coastal Ecosystems. Ocean and coasts ecosystem...

Population densities on the coast are three times higher than the global average. Coasts are also popular destinations for tourism and recreational activities and priority location for commerce, strategic transport routes and industrialisation associated with port developments. In addition, climate change scenarios are predicting more frequent and...

Urbanisation is a highly contextual, multifaceted, heterogeneous and complex phenomenon. The urbanisation of WIO countries, coupled with rapid development of the coastal margin translates into increased socio-economic vulnerability. Coastal cities of the region are desirable places to live and work in, and draw the population to the coast. For exam...

The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) offers a wealth of opportunity for the profitable and beneficial use of coastal and marine resources – a prospect for a true ocean economy. These benefits are derived from a range of human activities in the coastal and marine environment. Shipping moves, by a large margin, the bulk of the goods to the region, through...

While the importance of using the best available scientific evidence to inform management decisions in the WIO region is widely recognised, knowledge of how decision-makers articulate research needs, scientists produce useful outputs for management and, in general, the extent to which research outputs are used by decision-makers, is still limited....

Ocean acidification is a change in seawater chemistry caused by the absorption of excess atmospheric CO2 by the ocean. A high-CO2 ocean is predicted to have effects on marine organisms, including species upon which the economies of coastal communities depend. This could be through direct impacts on commercial species like shellfish, or indirectly v...

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to coastal municipalities when designating and managing coastal access and coastal access land to and across their respective coastal public property.

The purpose of this document is to provide strategic direction to the establishment and maintenance of coastal access in South Africa. It aims to provide the framework within which coastal municipalities must designate coastal access and coastal access land (as per Section 18 of the South African Integrated Coastal Management Act) within their res...

South Africa is a middle-income, developing country with a transforming society and as such is beset with economic and social challenges. This paper outlines the context within which coastal and marine spatial planning is enabled by a structured model of institutions, policy, legislation and tools. Coastal and marine spatial planning is a necessity...

Presentation of CSIR conceptual project work.

The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is a region where detailed coral reef fish research has been relatively limited. This study constitutes an assessment of the fish communities of seven southern African high-latitude coral reefs. The aim was to provide ichthyological baseline data consisting of species abundance and diversity, and family and trophic co...

This paper will explore the history of the movement towards and development of CSDI-like platforms in South Africa to conclude with the presentation of a shared data platform, a system collectively developed by the Department of Science and Technology, the CSIR, SAEON and other stakeholders. This paper will also evaluate the requirements of a South...

Aliwal Shoal is a subtropical, algal-dominated reef in a marine protected area located south of Durban, South Africa. The shoal has historically been heavily utilized by fishermen and SCUBA divers. In this study, a survey was undertaken to describe and zone the reef and its benthic communities in terms of topography, habitat types, species diversit...