Dr. Barbara Zanuttigh is an Associate Professor of Hydraulic Engineering at the University of Bologna, Italy. Her research is focused on Coastal Engineering, and specifically: wave-structure interaction, risk assessment and management, "working with nature" approaches and wave energy converters. She has been involved in many research projects, and was the Coordinator of the FP7 THESEUS project "Innovative technlologies for safer European coasts in a changing climate" (theseusproject.eu). She has been visiting researcher or collaborator with numerous national and international laboratories and universities, the most important experience being a visiting scholar of Coastal Structures at Delft University of Technology. She received the Torricelli Prize assigned by the Italian Hydraulic Group (2008) for the significant contribution to applied fluid mechanics. She is author of more than 150 papers, editor of a special issue of Coastal Engineering, and co-editor of Environmental Design Guidelines for Low Crested Coastal Structures. She has been supervising PhD students and a number of master and bachelor theses.Robert Nicholls is Professor of Coastal Engineering at the University of Southampton where he actively contributes and leads research and education in this area. His research is mainly focussed long-term coastal engineering and management, especially the issues of coastal impacts and adaptation to climate change, with an emphasis on sea-level rise. This work occurs at all scales from local research in the Solent, up to global assessments. A major recent theme of research is the future of deltaic areas which are the most threatened coastal setting in the coming century. He has also been involved in a number of international assessments, and in particular the International Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), who were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He was awarded the Roger Revelle Medal by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission in 2008. This recognises 'outstanding contributions to the ocean sciences by inspired researchers who communicate their knowledge and global vision of the challenges facing our Planet in order to shape a better future for humankind'.Jean-Paul Vanderlinden is a Professor of Environmental Studies and Ecological Economics at the Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ). Additionally, he is the coordinator of the "Adaptation Research, a Trans-disciplinary Transnational Community and Policy Centred Approach” project from the International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research.Richard C. Thompson is a Professor at the Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre School of Marine Science and Engineering at Plymouth University.Hans Falk Burcharth is a Professor in the Department Of Civil Engineering at Aalborg University.