National Coastal Resilience Network launches from Hull

Stakeholders from universities, industry, NGOs and the wider community came together around the theme of coastal resilience. In reflecting on the day, Coast-R Network lead, Prof Briony McDonagh of the University of Hull said: “I’ve been bowled over today by the knowledge and experience in the room, by the incredible goodwill between partners, and by the collective commitment to negotiating the urgent challenges at our coasts. This provides a mandate for action and a meaningful basis for future cooperation and collaboration.”

Emma Hardy MP, Minister for Water and Flooding at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provided a welcome address to delegates. The Economic and Social Research Council’s Andrew Telford introduced the overarching Resilient Coastal Communities and Seas Programme that funds both the Coast-R Network and its four partner projects, including the Hull-partnered TRANSECTS.

Prof McDonagh’s gave an introduction to the Coast-R Network’s aims and commitment to collaborative and cross-disciplinary working, in order to build knowledge, action and resilience for UK coastal communities and seas.

A panel discussion, chaired by Prof Stuart McLelland, discussed knowledge gaps and opportunities for collaboration in order to enhance coastal resilience. Each panellist gave a short presentation, before taking part in a lively Q&A session.

They were: 

• Louise Barker, Senior Investigator with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales;
• Peter Lawrence, Director of Coastal, Infrastructure and Minerals, Crown Estate; 
• Susana Lincoln, Senior Scientist with Cefas and the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP); 
• Beccy MacDonald-Lofts, Lead Officer with the Local Government Association Coastal Special Interest Group (LGA Coastal SIG);
• Ailsa Mackay, Chief Executive Officer, National Centre for Resilience; 
• Clive Walmsley, Senior Specialist Advisor in Climate Change & Decarbonisation at National Resources Wales;
• Imogen Wood, Senior National Consultant in Heritage & Climate with the National Trust.

During an extended networking lunch, representatives from all the Resilient Coastal and Seas Programme Projects, including Gina Yannitell Reinhardt from ARISE, Kate Spencer from RACC, Tim Acott from TRACC and David Atkinson from TRANSECTS were able to introduce their activities to the delegates.

The afternoon saw a trio of interactive workshops that provided participants with space to input into the future of the Coast-R Network, leading to: 

• A new ‘Living Glossary’ of terms and definitions that will be added to the Coast-R Network website
• A range of creative outputs in the ‘Deep Mapping’ workshop, that are mapped against UK geography
• The planned publication in 2025 of the first Coast-R Network foresight document, based on material gathered at the Collaborative Coastal Enquiry.

The Coast-R Network is a community of academics, industry, government and third sector organisations, working together to improve the resilience of UK coastal communities and seas. It is led by the University of Hull, in partnership with universities in Aberystwyth, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool and Southampton and is funded by UK Research and Innovation and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 

For more information, and to sign up for news of future online and in person events, as well as the launch of the Coast-R Network’s Flexible Fund, visit ukcoastalresilience.org.uk