In the framework of SHIEELD, a European Research Project with the aim of assessing the protective value of seagrass in nature-based coastal defence, a series of laboratory experiments using artificial vegetation have been performed in an open-channel flume, measuring meadow-induced wave decay in combined wave-current flow conditions. Artificial vegetation reproduces four species (Posidonia oceanica, Zostera marina, Zostera noltii, Cymodocea nodosa) and four different plant densities; hydraulic conditions imposed allow to replicate a series of current velocities, submergence ratios and wave characteristics observed in the field. Wave decay was calculated in terms of the dissipation coefficient Kd,wc and compared with dissipation coefficient Kd,pw for the corresponding experiment in pure wave conditions, showing general lower dissipation caused by the following current.