This symposium will bring together internationally renowned experts to address the most urgent challenges currently facing coastal and island ecosystems. Designed as a platform for scientific dialogue and collaboration, the event will foster the development of new lines of transformative research and the drafting of a strategic document with policy recommendations to guide future scientific investment in the context of global change. Over the course of two intensive days, the symposium will promote knowledge exchange in key fields such as ecology, oceanography, physics, and engineering, with a particular emphasis on the drivers of change at the land–sea interface. The overarching goal is to facilitate scientific exchange, identify emerging research priorities, and build synergies that contribute to more sustainable and resilient management of our coastal and marine environments.