Assessing anthropogenic vulnerability of coastal regions: DEA-based index and rankings for the European Atlantic Area Author links open overlay panel

his paper aims to assess the vulnerability of coastal areas to sectoral pressures from maritime-related socioeconomic activities. To do this, a DEA-based method is proposed to construct a synthetic index of anthropogenic vulnerability with which to rank European Atlantic Area countries and regions down to a regional scale below the national level. The set of indicators selected for this index focuses on five important vectors: marine spills, port activities, tourism, protection of natural areas, and water quality and waste management. The paper shows that, overall, the United Kingdom has the most vulnerable coast in Atlantic Europe, with Ireland showing the most resilient coast of all. Furthermore, the proposed method also allows one to identify peer groups with the same vulnerability pattern. Thus, policies aiming to reduce the vulnerability of a target region may be devised by focusing on the least vulnerable regions within the relevant group. The detailed analysis presented may help regional policy makers as a diagnostic tool to detect and assess vulnerability weaknesses so that they can design and carry out appropriate actions in line with integrated European coastal management policies.The authors acknowledge research funding received from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the EU Interreg Atlantic Area Programme 2014-2020 (EAPA_224/2016 MOSES). In addition, financial support from UPV/EHU Econometrics Research Group (Basque Government grant IT1359-19) and Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (1st author: grant MTM2016-74931-P, 3rd author: grant ECO2016-76884-P) is also acknowledged. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript