University led project will shape the future for Skipsea residents facing coastal erosion

Skipsea residents together with school children unveiled a digital booklet, that captures views of where they live and what matters to them. A collage created by the group was also on show to reflect what they value most about their coastal community.

Led by the University of Hull, working with the Environment Agency’s local and national teams, East Riding of Yorkshire Council and North Norfolk District Council, the project involved working with children from Skipsea Village Primary School and older representatives of the community, to find out intergenerational views of those living in a coastal area.

The study was created to help the Environment Agency and local authorities better understand communities’ perspectives about where they live and work in the context of climate change.

Over three months, the project gathered insights and stories from older and younger generations in Skipsea. These stories were shared at an event in Skipsea to stimulate further conversations about perceptions of the legacy and history of their place and their view of the future.

Flood and coastal risk management authorities will now draw the communities’ stories and insights into their plans to communicate and manage coastal flood risk in the future.

Katie Parsons Researcher in Children’s Environmental Education, Health and Wellbeing at the University of Hull said: “Children and older community members tend to be the voices communities’ perspectives about where they live and work in the context of climate change.

“Working with children and older generations in Skipsea has given us great insight to what they value most about where they live, such as the importance of access to the beach, and how that could influence the way we manage coastal flood risk and the impacts of climate change well into the future.”

The study is part of the Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme (CTAP) which explores how we can adapt to the effects of climate change on the coast.

England has some of the fastest eroding coastline in Europe. Coastal erosion is a natural, ongoing process that has been happening for thousands of years. But with sea levels continuing to rise into the next century, the rate of coastal erosion in some places will accelerate. As the risks of erosion increase and accelerate with climate change, we need to explore now how local authorities can work with and support people living, working and using coastal areas that cannot sustainably be defended in the long term.

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