Eco-sea design. Transdisciplinary products and services for sustainability in seaside contexts.

The contribution analyzes the operational framework of eco-sustainable projects tested in coastal and seaside contexts. Specifically, the research we conducted in the last five years focuses on methods and practices capable of integrating the protection of the beaches with the typical touristic functions and their relations with the urbanized environments. The set of examples, collected on an international scale, represents a testimony of the possible coexistence between anthropic activities and ecological emergencies and traces a path of good practices exemplifying a progressive culture of regeneration of the maritime environments. The research shows how the sea-space has a status of fragile “inhabited and habitable nature” in which man over time has regularly brought together needs and interests. On the beach, therefore, the complexity of contemporary living is fully reflected: from the evolution of customs to technological innovation; from economic to social changes; from ideological to cultural transitions. This context is notoriously characterized by the combination of natural elements, artefacts and rituals, acting in relation to the advantages of local communities, the beneficiaries of the sea coasts and the different economic chains. In this framework new “devices” can be designed with principles of coexistence and collaboration between territories, nature and communities, so in an attempt to balance the degree of anthropization of nature with innovations able to include new priorities and sensitivities. The contribution conducts a phenomenological mapping that outlines an operational reference framework that declines the different sustainabilities for solutions that represent new possible models of “shared innovation”.