There is increasing consensus among coastal practitioners and scientists that we should address the coastal erosion problem at its roots: an imbalance in the sediment budgets in the coastal zone. The key concepts for erosion management recommended by the EUROSION project, all refer to sediment management.

In the vision developed by EUROSION, the objective of favourable sediment status for the coastal zone shall be achieved for each coastal sediment cell principally via designation of strategic sediment reservoirs in combination with traditional measures such as planning, building regulations, environmental assessment procedures and coastal mitigation measures.

In this regard, Eurosion has proposed the introduction of the concept of favourable sediment status within the European policy and legislation as the cornerstone of coastal resilience and sustainable shoreline management.

In the meantime scientific knowledge of coastal processes and intervention methods is already well developed. Defining indicators for specific coastal functions helps in pinpointing the problems. Available models and monitoring systems are becoming more sophisticated. Yet at the same time it is very difficult for coastal managers to put this knowledge into practice.

To assist implementation of coastal erosion management in local and regional initiatives, CONSCIENCE has tested a systematic framework and has developed : Guidelines for Implementation of Sustainable Coastal Erosion Management in local and regional initiatives.