Sea’ties Regional Report – Adapting Coastal Cities and Territories to Sea Level Rise in Northern Europe, Challenges and Best Practices
On November 29th, 2021, the Sea’ties initiative hosted virtually the regional workshop “Adapting coastal cities and territories to sea level rise in Northern Europe”. First of a series of five (Mediterranean basin, North America, West Africa, Asia-Pacific), this workshop brought together 20 experts and key stakeholders working on adapting coastal cities and territories in Northern Europe and provided a forum to share, connect and discuss current practices and common challenges.
Drawing on the returns on experience put forth during preliminary interviews and the workshop, Sea’ties publishes the report Adapting Coastal Cities and Territories to Sea Level Rise in Northern Europe, Challenges and Best Practices. This report provides an overview of current obstacles and features good practices contributing to the sustainable adaptation of coastal cities and their territories in the region.
Closing knowledge gaps for informed adaptation
Across Northern Europe, risk and vulnerability assessments are supported by substantial data production which is readily accessible and shared. Yet, the lack of systemic and localised evaluations hinders the comprehensive understanding of risks and vulnerabilities. Informed design, decisions and implementation of adaptation measures would require innovative and systematic feasibility assessments to be conducted and further shared among stakeholders (e.g. feasibility research on Nature-based Solutions in deltas and coastal areas conducted by the Water, Climate and Future Deltas Hub). Meanwhile, frameworks and guidelines for monitoring could support a long-term approach in the production of knowledge and the adjustment of strategies. In line with this, the Adapto project (Conservatoire du Littoral) featured in the report, seeks to improve the understanding of the coastline dynamism by exploring adaptive coastal management in 10 pilot sites in France and promoting experience capitalization and sharing at local, national and regional scales.
Strengthening governance frameworks to facilitate dynamic and hybrid adaptation models
As there is no one-size-fits-all solution to tackle sea level rise, coastal cities are mixing and sequencing interventions through time and space. For instance, the city of La Rochelle as part of the La Rochelle Territoire Zéro Carbone project (LRTZC) combines flood protection measures in residential areas with renaturation activities, such as in the Tasdon wetland. However, hybrid and dynamic strategies imply considerably enhancing and overhauling the financial and governance frameworks to better articulate the scientific, human, financial, institutional and cultural assets of cities with societal demands. In this respect, the Climate Ready Clyde (CRC) conducted by Sniffer works with a consortium of local authorities, national agencies, universities and CSOs to improve the capacities of the Glasgow City Region (GCR) to plan transformational change as part of its coastal adaptation strategies.
Shaping resilient coastal cities through stakeholder engagement
Adaptation, closely intertwined with social acceptance issues, offers the opportunity to collectively rethink coastal cities. In this respect, decision-makers and planners need to identify and fairly represent the pertinent stakeholders at every stage of adaptation and inform them by deploying multiple, tailored, innovative means of communication (e.g. LittoSim developed by LIENSs, CNRS). Consequently, stakeholder engagement implies considerable capacity growth. Faced with this challenge, four local authorities of southern UK gathered and founded Coastal Partners in order to provide a coherent and sustainable management of their coastline.
To read the full Report, click on the image below.
