HOW WILL WE DO IT?

The methodology is organised according to five work packages (WPs) with various key tangible outputs:

WP1 - Innovative approaches to coastal management

KEY OUTPUT: Coastal Management Comparator Data Base Tool will be developed to improve the capacity of decision makers concerned with coastal issues to quickly and easily compare and contrast their situations with respect to other management approaches in the NW Europe region.

WP2 - Identification of drivers for climate change and related issues

KEY OUTPUT: Training Material on the Identification of Coastal Climate Change Drivers and Issues will be made available to build capacity for developing adaptive management strategies, by illustrating the historical context, drivers, and issues arising from climate change in the coastal zone of NW Europe, including case study material from each of the Expert Couplet locations.

WP3 - Future scenario building

KEY OUTPUT: Demonstration Technologies for the Visualisation of Coastal Futures covering three technological approaches; Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Web Based Virtual Reality, and a Customised Simulator will be developed to demonstrate potential aids to adaptive management in response to climate change impacts in the coastal zone.

WP4 - Learning to adapt

KEY OUTPUT: Nine Local Adaptive Management Strategies will be produced to outline climate change scenarios and optional responses for each coastal location. At the local level they will enhance the robustness of long-term investments, improve societal awareness of and preparedness for responding to climate change in the coastal zone, and increase the adaptability of vulnerable coastal activities. At the NW Europe level they will provide examples of best practice in adaptive management to coastal managers and decision makers.

WP5 - Influencing change

KEY OUTPUT: Multimedia Distance Learning Tool will be developed to fill an information gap that currently exists in Europe by providing a comprehensive resource to help coastal managers to plan for climate change impacts in their coastal areas. This final project output will integrate and promote the products developed (e.g. coastal comparator database) and the lessons learned (e.g. in adaptive management and expert couplet working) from IMCORE.
The development of the tools and adaptive management strategies will be undertaken in consultation with end-users at all of the nine pilot sites. This exchange of experience, technical know-how and research ideas should ensure that the strategies and tools will be successfully incorporated into future routine coastal management practice.