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This paper introduces a participatory Multi-Criteria Assessment (MCA) methodology developed through the Resilience Increasing Strategies for Coasts – Toolkit (RISC-KIT) project and implemented in nine case studies in Europe. The purpose of the MCA was to bridge the disciplinary divide between engineering sciences and social sciences, facilitate the communication and dissemination of local coastal risk assessments and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) measures' evaluation to a broad range of actors. The process addressed the importance of integrating scientific knowledge with stakeholders' knowledge to understand and assess the possible social, political and economic implications of different DRR measures, which could foster or hinder successful implementation. The paper discusses the methodological aspects and implementation of the approach which included visualizing risk reduction of DRR measures using paper-based cards to support interaction and negotiation among participants to select preferred strategic alternatives (SA), and a participatory MCA where stakeholders evaluated the SA against three (self-weighted) criteria: feasibility, acceptability and sustainability.

Abstract. Contributions to social capital, risk awareness, and preparedness constitute the parameters against which applications of digital technologies in the field of disaster risk management should be tested. We propose here an evaluation of four of these: mobile positioning data, social media crowdsourcing, drones, and satellite imaging, with an additional focus on acceptability and feasibility. The assessment is carried out through a survey disseminated among stakeholders. The frame of the analysis also grants the opportunity to investigate to what extent different methodologies to aggregate and evaluate the results, i.e., the Criteria Importance Through Criteria Correlation (CRITIC) model, the (Euclidean)-distance Criteria Importance Through Criteria Correlation (dCRITIC) model, the entropy model, the mean weight model, and the standard deviation model, may influence the preference of one technology over the others. We find that the different assumptions on which these methodologies rely deliver diverging results. We therefore recommend that future research adopt a sensitivity analysis that considers multiple and alternatives methods to evaluate survey results.

Co-creating a sustainable blue economy for sweden
Wehn, Linders and Barquet explain how the MISTRA C2B2 programme is working to bring about transformative change in participatory ocean governance in Sweden. The ocean – the new frontier of human activity – is being redefined by new discoveries, technologies, national strategies, and ecological imperatives. Yet, it is undeniable that the status of most seas is in decay – and if the goal would be to restore or improve their status, then most human activities should be banned. Instead, we witness that, in recent years, the blue economy is promoted as an answer to energy and food insecurity, as well as to an increased demand for shipping of goods, and transport of people and services. So, humanity depends on marine livelihoods, but the blue economy is also rapidly increasing pressure on the long-term sustainability of marine ecosystems.

Climate change is recognized today not just as a pressing and prominent issue on government agendas but also one that has been increasingly 'securitized' in a variety of national and global settings. We know little, however, if climate change adaptation, as a subset of climate action, has followed a similarly securitized path. This article addresses that question, exploring not only if climate change adaptation has been securitized but also what type of securitization – threat-oriented or risk-oriented – has emerged. Turning our empirical focus to three national settings of Norway, Sweden, and The Netherlands, we look for signs of securitization as well as whether securitization has been facilitated, shaped, or even blocked by existing governance features in each setting. We use this study to link the securitization literature with environmental governance approaches by building a novel analytical framework. Our findings show some intriguing and unexpected patterns, including evidence of risk-oriented securitization couched nevertheless as 'business as usual'. We contribute to the growing debate on securitization in environmental governance while also casting new light on national climate change adaptation processes.