In the present paper, the coastal risk is assessed, at a regional scale, to produce a risk map that will help to prioritize policies and economic resources in coastal management and planning activities. The DPSIR method is here used taking into account processes and cause/effect relationship between Drivers and Pressures, which induce an alteration of actual State and, hence, Impacts on the environment, society and economy. The study area is located in South Italy (Apulia region), where the Risk Index is calculated and mapped for all municipalities facing the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. Both coastal Vulnerability and Exposure Indexes are firstly calculated according to the procedure suggested in the EUrosion project (EU model) as the product of specific indicators describing the state of coastal zones, their natural characteristics and both natural and anthropic pressures. Based on both EU model results and knowledge of states and pressures of the study area, a new modified model is then proposed (Mod.E.M.) and final risk maps compared. The comparison shows that new Vulnerability and Exposure indexes better describe the ongoing coastal processes and pressures and allow us to identify hot-spot sites where more detailed analyses could be further focused on. The Mod.E.M. has more than just a local significance since the case study includes coastal areas with so different characteristics, that it can be easily applied to other coastal regions. Moreover, to take into account climate change effects, Risk Index is evaluated under Representative Concentration Pathways $RCP4.5$ and $RCP8.5$ , mainly affecting the sea level rise and the storm surge level.

The environmental quality of Torre a Mare port (Italy) was assessed evaluating on one side, the chemical concentration of nine metals and metalloids within bottom sediments and on the other one, by exploring the impact of hydrodynamic conditions in contaminant's transport within the most polluted basins. The investigated port was selected as case study because it resulted much more polluted than it was expected based on the touristic port activities and related stressors loading on it. In order to determine the origin and fate of contaminants in the port basin, 2D numerical simulations were carried out by MIKE21 software. The hydrodynamic module (HD) based on a rectangular grid was initially used to characterize the flow field into two domains that cover the inner and offshore harbor area. Then, advection-dispersion (AD) and water quality (WQ) modules were coupled in order to simulate the simultaneous processes of transport and dispersion of hypothetical pollutant sources. The dissolved/suspended sediment particulates (DSS) were selected as contaminant tracers. The comparative analysis between simulation responses and the real metal contaminant distribution showed high agreement, suggesting that contaminants mainly come from outside port and tend to accumulate in the inner basin. In fact, hydrodynamic circulations cause inflowing streams toward the harbor entrance and the particular port morphology hampers the exit of fine sediments from the inner basin, enhancing thus the accumulation of sediment-associated contaminants within the port area. The study confirms that the quality of touristic port areas strongly depends on both pollution sources located within and outside the port domain and it is controlled mainly by the hydrodynamic-driven processes.