Academics at the University of Hull are leading a £2m project to build resilience among coastal communities, in partnership with industry, Government and UK communities.
The COAST-R Network aims to build understanding of coastal change and how UK coastal communities can be managed. It is part-funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and DEFRA under its Resilient Coastal Communities and Seas programme and is part of a £14.8m investment in research projects.
The University of Hull’s professor Briony McDonagh is leading the network which involves academic teams from the Universities of Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Aberystwyth and Southampton, as well as coastal and marine partners and communities across the UK.
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Prof McDonagh, director of the Energy and Environment Institute and professor of environmental humanities, said: “The UK’s coasts represent the front line for many of our most significant resilience challenges. Coastal and estuarine communities are living with social and health inequalities, rising sea levels, and coastal erosion, to name but a few challenges. Yet conventional models of coastal management sometimes fall badly short, ignoring local needs and experiences of coastal change.
“COAST-R will work collaboratively across sectors and build skills, knowledge and collaboration to ensure those most impacted by climate change have a key voice in the decision-making process around coastal resilience.”
COAST-R has five main objectives including sharing learnings and best practice across sectors and disciplines; work in partnership with coastal communities to identify priority needs via a Flexible Fund; co-design a range of events, training and mentoring to improve partnership working; collate insights and resources through its website, and evaluate the activities of the network and funded projects to inform future learning, legacy and funding opportunities.
The network is jointly funded by UKRI, through Creating Opportunities, Improving Outcomes, alongside the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), National Environment Research Council (NERC) and the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber
