A decision support framework for the management of lagoon ecosystems was tested using four European Lagoons: Ria de Aveiro (Portugal), Mar Menor (Spain), Tyligulskyi Liman (Ukraine) and Vistula Lagoon (Poland/Russia). Our aim was to formulate integrated management recommendations for European lagoons. To achieve this we followed a DPSIR (Drivers-Pressures-State Change-Impacts-Responses) approach, with focus on integrating aspects of human wellbeing, welfare and ecosystem sustainability. The most important drivers in each lagoon were identified, based on information gathered from the lagoons’ stakeholders, complemented by scientific knowledge on each lagoon as seen from a land-sea perspective. The DPSIR cycles for each driver were combined into a mosaic-DPSIR conceptual model to examine the interdependency between the multiple and interacting uses of the lagoon. This framework emphasizes the common links, but also the specificities of responses to drivers and the ecosystem services provided. The information collected was used to formulate recommendations for the sustainable management of lagoons within a Pan-European context. Several common management recommendations were proposed, but specificities were also identified. The study synthesizes the present conditions for the management of lagoons, thus analysing and examining the activities that might be developed in different scenarios, scenarios which facilitate ecosystem protection without compromising future generations.

Coastal areas will be exposed to increasing risks over coming decades due to climate change and sea-level rise. Our study focuses on the Vistula Lagoon located in the south Baltic, whose water regime and ecological status are highly dependent on the river inflow coming from its catchment. Changes in climate may cause variations in water quantity and quality in the rivers and affect the ecological and socio-economic potential of the lagoon. The climate impact study in this catchment containing more than 20 rivers is challenging as only a few of them are gauged. The impacts were modelled, using the ecohydrological model SWIM, and applying a set of 15 climate scenarios from the ENSEMBLES project. Scenario analysis revealed a projected overall increase in precipitation, as well as in temperature, for the Vistula Lagoon catchment, which cause diverse changes in discharge, water temperature, dissolved nutrient concentrations and loads coming from the rivers.