Coordinating Resilient Coastal Communities and the Humber.

Join the Humber Nature Forum online on Thursday 1st May for an afternoon of talks.

The three talks will be from projects part of the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and DEFRA Resilient Coastal Communities and Seas programme. All of these projects have links to the communities around Humber Estuary.

Transformative Research Actions for Resilient Coastal Communities (TRACC)

Coastal communities in the UK are faced with many pressing social, economic, and environmental resilience challenges. Addressing these in an inclusive, holistic, and sustainable way requires a transformation of the way research and governance work and interact.

TRACC will bring together different forms of knowledge from diverse social groups and movements, decision-makers, researchers, and other stakeholders to co-design new approaches to tackle coastal challenges and help positively shift values, goals, and paradigms towards sustainability and resilience.

TRACC will work across the UK, in Mid-North Wales, the Humber Estuary, Lough Foyle and the Firth of Clyde, and lessons learned will be shared nationally through a new UK Resilience Assembly.

TRANSitions In Energy For Coastal Communities Over Time And Space (TRANSECTS)

The shift to marine renewable energies will transform the sustainability (the balance between economic growth, social well-being, and environmental care) and resilience (adapting to change, adversity and new opportunities) of coastal communities and adjacent seas. History tells us that previous energy transitions have led to profound environmental and socio-cultural change for local communities due to their often boom-and-bust nature.

Our team will explore previous experiences of these energy transitions. We will examine the shifts from non-renewable marine energy sources (whale oil in the 1800s through to offshore oil and gas in the later-1900s) to more sustainable renewable energy sources in the early-2000s. We will assess the raw energy sources. We will examine how nearby communities have been affected during transitions. We will investigate the fairness and equity of decisions made.

Coastal Communities and Seas Together for Resilience (Coast-R)

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.