International cooperation on ‘soft’ coastal management
Coastal management – defences against erosion and flooding – has traditionally relied on 'hard' engineering approaches such as walls, breakwaters and flood gates. However, modern coastal management encourages 'soft' approaches such as rebuilding beaches naturally. The ENVICOP (Environmentally friendly coastal protection in a changing climate) project was an International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) that facilitated collaboration in soft coastal management research. This involved the secondment of 22 early-stage researchers and 11 experienced researchers. Work centred on five major topics. These were sea-level rise, dune erosion protection and shoreline management, artificial reefs, beach drainage for littoral stabilisation and coastal protection combined with wave energy utilisation. The IRSES strengthened international partnerships, which developed advanced numerical and physical model tools. The tools were used to forecast both short- and long-term phenomena with regard to coastal protection in the face of a changing climate. This provided new knowledge and greater understanding of improved numerical and physical model tools, thereby enabling new and improved environmentally friendly coastal protection structures to be built. ENVICOP outcomes will help decision-makers to strengthen planning arrangements and improve coordination of coastal erosion and surface water flood risk. They will also assist in the management of significant levels of public funding, as well as help coastal communities adapt to climate change.
Keywords
Coastal management, environmentally friendly, changing climate, coastal protection
