BioTiles

The Italy-Slovenia cooperation area faces environmental challenges related to climate change, including rising temperatures and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events. These phenomena particularly threaten lagoons, vulnerable ecosystems prone to erosion, siltation and flooding. Lagoons provide essential ecosystem services, and their degradation directly affects local communities, especially those dependent on fisheries and other natural resources.

The BioTiles project aims to counteract these impacts by developing innovative biosubstrates based on natural fibres and microbial biofilm, capable of strengthening sediments and increasing the resilience of lagoon ecosystems. The biosubstrates will be tested in pilot sites in the Grado-Marano, Strunjan and Val Stagnon-Koper lagoons. The experimental results will be integrated into numerical models to simulate erosion and sedimentation processes and feed into an operational protocol that can be replicated in other lagoon areas.

The project also envisages the creation of a lagoon HUB based on the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) to collect, centralise and share knowledge on lagoon biodiversity and resilience. Finally, by means of participatory processes, BioTiles will develop a cross-border strategy for the sustainable management of lagoons, with positive and lasting repercussions for the local communities and economic sectors most affected by the effects of climate change.