Designing Managed Retreat: Coastal Communities in the Green Transition
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal College of Art
Department Name: School of Architecture
Abstract
This project will develop a new toolkit to help local communities deal with net zero design challenges arising from a managed retreat from coastal areas affected by long-term climate change impacts and sea-level rise.
| Title | Holderness |
| Description | Production of a documentary film to conclude the practice-based research into the Holderness coastline of East Yorkshire, England. Coastal adaptation strategies, particularly that of a 'managed retreat' currently neglect to position the values and priorities of those affected at its centre. This filmed piece consisting of interviews with residents, creatives, community organisers, and professionals based in the region encourages the inclusion of community participation, proactive communication, and the representation of individual experiences and community assets in coastal adaptation planning and conversations about the future of living on the shoreline. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | This film has since been shared and exhibited in national and international public settings, including at the Design Museum, London; Disseny Hub, Barcelona; MAK, Vienna and the Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich contributing to the wider ongoing debates around loss and damage and climate vulnerabilities taking place internationally. |
| Title | The ocean speaks. New ecologies and new economies of the seas |
| Description | Material produced during the project period was synthesised into an original exhibition format for the public exhibition at Barcelona's Disseny Hub Museum. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | This sharing of the research in an international public settings contributing to the wider ongoing debates around loss and damage and climate vulnerabilities taking place internationally. |
| URL | https://www.dissenyhub.barcelona/en/press/ocean-speaks-new-ecologies-and-new-economies-seas |
| Title | WATER PRESSURE: Designing for the Future |
| Description | Material produced during the project period was synthesised into two original exhibition formats for the touring public exhibition at Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich and MAK Museum, Vienna. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2025 |
| Impact | This sharing of the research in an international public settings contributing to the wider ongoing debates around loss and damage and climate vulnerabilities taking place internationally. |
| URL | https://museum-gestaltung.ch/en/exhibition/water-designing-future |
| Description | Key headline findings from this project include, but are not limited to: ? There is little or no UK-based data on impacts of relocation and how relocated groups have fared economically, socially, or psychologically. ? There is insufficient UK-focused research into managed retreat planning able to support the sustainability of communities and their cultural ties. ? Managed retreat discourse should understand loss and preservation as encompassing more than financial and physical aspects. ? A proactive, community-designed managed retreat strategy should position the values and priorities of those affected at its centre. ? Effective managed retreat depends on the capacity to record, communicate and share relevant information. ? Effective communication on future coastal change, especially identification of at-risk areas, can support community empowerment and prioritisation around preservation. ? Intangible qualities of place are easily identified and prioritised by participants through positive association, however, these are not translated as easily into negative association of 'losable' as firmly as material assets. ? Strategies for a managed decline of built heritage are increasingly now being considered, referred to as an adaptive release. The research project's key impact is having established new partnerships in the UK between organisations and institutions engaging with challenges in the built environment brought about by climate change. This research period has brought together residents from the affected region, architects Scott Whitby Studio and Snug Architects, heritage experts CitiZAN and UCL Archeology, the local authority of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the University of Hull and other organisations such as the South Downs National Park authority and TimeBank Hull and East Riding to broaden the thinking around coastal challenge. All parties can be seen to have benefitted from the increased knowledge transfer enabled by the project. |
| Exploitation Route | not applicable this yearThe subject of a managed retreat in respect to those living at risk on the UK coastline is an ongoing and timely debate. Local authorities, organisations and community action groups in the case study region continue to work towards a more sustainable future in respect to shoreline living. The Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme (2023-2027) managed by the Environmental Agency and East Riding of Yorkshire Council continues to work towards supporting and preparing communities for the challenges posed by coastal change. Understanding the value that the local authority may have held in regards to these issues, members of local government were engaged with on multiple occasions during the project period and were sent the complete set of project findings upon conclusion of the project. Correspondence with the local authorities following the end of the project period has confirmed that our findings in respect to community engagement techniques were to be considered in respect to their own methods in the years to come. The establishment of new relationships between stakeholders and researchers during the project period has added to a growing network of practitioners and thinkers already working in the project region. The key findings from our research were shared with these groups who continue to produce important and valuable work in respect to the future of coastal living. Specific partnerships established between the research organisation with the University of Hull and TimeBank Hull and East Riding can be seen of significant value beyond the project period. This has been reflected by the identification of shared research interests and the subsequent joint application for further funding. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Environment Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://www.rca.ac.uk/research-innovation/projects/designing-managed-retreat-coastal-communities-in-the-green-transition |
| Description | Encouragement that the research methodology and findings have had tangible non-academic impacts is taken from the repeat engagement the project team has had with residents from the case study area as well as the remarks and feedback received in respect to the project launch event in which project findings were shared and the workshops organised during the project period. Members of the public aired how the opportunity of the workshop sessions and their particular format enabled them to openly share their concerns or fears in ways which they had been unable to do before. Additionally the workshops fostered a public dialogue between community members themselves on local issues, residents remarked that it was nice to meet new people and how they had wanted to use the sessions to gather an understanding of community consensus. This feedback highlights the value of the project in leveraging change in a particular case-study area into a resource for solidarity that will extend beyond the project period. Since the ending of the funding period, material from this research has since been shared and exhibited in other national and international public settings, including at the Design Museum, London; Disseny Hub, Barcelona; MAK, Vienna and the Museum für Gestaltung, Zürich. The dissemination of this material has prioritised the inclusion of those engaged with during the project period, in doing so this puts the voices of those in this specific context into an international dialogue with others, highlighting the importance of community, in particular artistic practices in sharing and forming a collective knowledge and consensus in respect to the challenges of coastal change. The research outcomes can be seen to be contributing to the wider ongoing debates around loss and damage and climate vulnerabilities taking place internationally. The sharing of the work in four international exhibitions represents a valuable contribution to a necessary dialogue, one in which further discussions and research can be based. Furthermore, key findings from this research funding has been synthesised and published in: Adrian Lahoud "Loss and Damage," Journal of Architectural Education, Vol. 78, Issue 2 (2024) contributing to knowledge in respect to pedagogy, representation, and praxis and the pursuit of climate justice. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
| Sector | Environment,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |