Recreation and restoration: an intertidal ethnography of coastal futures.

This project was originally titled: 'Indian Indians' in Guyana: examining contemporary ethno-cultural boundaries in the Caribbean. It changed as a response to Covid-19 making the initially planned research impossible. The new direction was inspired by a UKRI policy research internship with Natural England in 2021.
The current project investigates ideas about coastal futures in England. It is specifically concerned with how people think about the future of coastal living in the context of climate change, and the kinds of activities they pursue to make those futures possible. This includes marine conservation and habitat restoration, but also recreation and protest.
A key focus of the project is the idea of the coast as commons. This is a popular refrain among recreational boating communities, but has been understudied for what it means in terms of environmental and future-focused responsibilities. The idea of a coastal commons intersects with histories of enclosure on land, as well as the development of leisured harbours as a particular kind of seascape. It is important in contemporary debates about coastal futures because habitat restoration projects can involve the designation of no-access or anchor zones. This, to some boaters, seems a form of 'blue grabbing' or marine enclosure, that threatens the future of coastal access. More broadly, the idea of coast as commons has implications for how marine spaces are managed, and how polluters and held to account.
The project employed ethnographic methods including participant observation, interviews, film, and surveys. These were chosen to provide rich qualitative data on the range of perspectives held by individuals, and to reveal the wider imaginaries and motivations behind everyday coastal activities.