Managing coastal flood risk in England: An analysis of policy, organisational and household perspectives

Abstract

Coastal flooding is a major concern in England, with significant past and potential future damages. Even with climate change mitigation, the sea level will keep rising. There is a need to adapt on the coast to the changing and growing risks posed not only by a changing climate, but also a changing society. Despite the wide-held view that flood risk management (FRM) should take an integrated approach, research into coastal FRM of an interdisciplinary nature remains scarce in England. This thesis aims to address this gap, by undertaking a cross-scale analysis of national policy, organisational and household involvement in coastal FRM in England, to develop a more integrated understanding for decision-makers of the challenges facing household adapting to coastal flood risk. The thesis uses mixed methods to address three objectives: 1) evaluate synergies and challenges in national policies for managing household coastal flood risk via a StrengthWeakness-Opportunity-Threat analysis; 2) analyse the challenges and solutions in policy delivery for sub-national organisational stakeholders via thematic analysis of interviews with organisational stakeholders in the North-west and Central-south of England; and 3) characterise household motivation and participation in coastal FRM through statistical analysis of stakeholder and household surveys distributed in south Lincolnshire. This work identifies a discrepancy between policies and sub-national experiences in establishing, resourcing and sustaining long-term plans for the coast. There also remains a paucity of interactions between professions, despite the acknowledged benefits of interacting across boundaries and sectors. Sub-national organisational stakeholders could be empowered by capacity-building and financial resources to play a more effective role in the conversation, decision-making and implementation of coastal FRM. Sub-national stakeholders are ambiguous about the role of the public in FRM. This work finds that households who feel capable to act, and who are aware of local FRM, are more likely to take preparedness measures themselves. These findings contribute to establishing a more comprehensive conceptual framework for studying flood risk household action, identifying the importance of characteristics of past flood experiences, preparedness communications and responsibility perceptions. It is a critical and opportune time for policy makers to set clear goals and provide direction for the responsibility of and engagement of the public, whose role is central to any long-term adaptation. The thesis concludes that the positive trend of overcoming disciplinary boundaries in the coastal FRM governance should be accompanied by an overtopping of social barriers that limit effective sub-national stakeholder and household adaptation to coastal flood risk.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Sien Van Der Plank: orcid.org/0000-0001-6650-4111

ORCID for Robert Nicholls: orcid.org/0000-0002-9715-1109

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