Coastal nature-based solutions (NbS) stakeholder engagement event
By Dr Hachem Kassem
The University of Southampton hosted a Coastal Nature-based Solutions (NbS) stakeholder engagement workshop on Monday, 19 June, 2023 at the Future Towns Innovation Hub , bringing practitioners and academics together to explore the role of NbS in promoting sustainability & resilience of coastal communities & environments.
Nature-based Solutions are actions to protect, sustainably manage, and/or restore natural or modified ecosystems to address societal, economic, and environmental challenges; and are key within adaptation policies to addressing the climate emergency and biodiversity loss crisis. The workshop aimed to examine gaps in the evidence base and challenges to the implementation of NbS in coastal, estuarine, and marine environments; and to explore means to facilitate knowledge exchange and foster collaborations between the multidisciplinary community of researchers at Southampton and key NbS stakeholders, which included policymakers, local government and public sector agencies and regulators, non-governmental organisations, engineering consultancies and private enterprises.
Following a brief welcome by Dr Hachem Kassem (Lecturer in Ocean Engineering and the event’s Chair), Prof Paul Kemp (Director of Future Towns Innovation Hub ) and Prof Craig Hutton (Director of the Sustainability and Resilience Institute ), the event commenced with a keynote presentation by John Curtin , Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, who shared his perspectives on the role of NbS in promoting community resilience through a changing climate and biodiversity crash. John illustrated the long history of working with nature to address flooding, and the shift in perspective from defence to flood and coastal erosion risk management; shared examples of NbS schemes implemented by the Environment Agency, highlighting the multiple benefits they offer and the need to work globally to address global challenges and learn from others, and touched on the potential for NbS within the ongoing water quality debate. He concluded: “Everyone recognises the value of Nature-Based Solutions – now we need to prove it!”.
Dr Kassem then gave an overview of the environmental, societal, and economic challenges facing coastal communities, and where the policy landscape is around NbS in the UK and globally. This set the scene for a series of roundtable, group discussions and joint feedback sessions on the themes of flood and coastal erosion risk management; ecosystem restoration and biodiversity net gain; food security & aquaculture; and coastal communities and place-based approaches for resilience. After an extended lunch and poster sessions, discussions in the afternoon explored how advancements in science & technology can support implementation of nature-based solutions; and what approaches are needed to engage with policy makers, enhance knowledge exchange, promote joint projects & foster partnerships between academia and practitioners.
The event provided an opportunity to network and engage with stakeholders actively involved in NbS policy development, decision making, design and implementation; and showcased the broad range of interdisciplinary research and expertise on nature-based solutions. This event was hosted by the Future Towns Innovation Hub (FTIH), the Sustainability and Resilience Institute (SRI) and the Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences (FELS) and builds on a series of academic workshops organised by FELS and the Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute (SMMI) in 2022 on the themes of nature based solutions , coastal communities, climate resilience and digital environments. The SRI is providing seed-corn funding to kickstart new collaborations between researchers and practitioners. The event concluded with a tour of the new FTIH facilities on the University Science Park.