Coastal Communities Adapting Together (CCAT): Exchanging Knowledge and Best Practice across borders

The Irish Sea and its coastal communities are directly impacted by climate change and need to adapt to these changes. The Coastal Communities Adapting Together (CCAT) project will bring together policymakers, local authorities, academics and communities from Ireland, Wales and England to share knowledge and best practice of coastal management.

Together with Fingal County Council, Cardiff University will be running a free online conference 'Coastal Communities Adapting Together Exchanging Knowledge and Best Practice Across Borders' from 17 - 19 November 2020 to provide an opportunity to share knowledge and experience, building on existing best practice in coastal management, climate change adaptation and mitigation.

“While many countries have strategies for coastal management, Ireland has yet to create such policies. Ireland’s programme for government commits to progressing a national policy on coastal erosion and flooding in relation to climate change. This will be vital for our coastal communities who are already experiencing serious erosion and flooding issues,” said Dr Karen Foley, Senior Responsible Officer with CCAT and Head of Landscape Architecture at University College Dublin.

Darragh O’Brien, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage said: “Coming from a constituency which has been and continues to be greatly impacted by coastal erosion, I understand the grave challenges this presents. I welcome the CCAT project, which will assist in furthering our understanding of the implications of climate change for coastal communities. Any increased understanding arising from this project will benefit policymakers and others in our long-term work in dealing with the effects of climate change. I want to wish all the participants well with their deliberations during the conference."

Lesley Griffiths, the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Wales said: “Response to climate change cannot be the responsibility of one nation nor one government alone – particularly when it comes to issues of coastal management across shared seas.

“I am pleased to hear that despite the difficulties posed by the ongoing pandemic, experts and specialists from across Wales, Ireland and England will be able to meet for the CCAT conference, and can look at how the impact of climate change on our coasts can be managed and responded to collaboratively.”

The Coastal Communities Adapting Together (CCAT) project is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales Cooperation Programme 2014-2020 with partners in Ireland (Fingal County Council, University College Dublin and MaREI/University College Cork) and in Wales (Cardiff University, Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum and the Port of Milford Haven).

CCAT aims to support coastal communities in Fingal and Pembrokeshire to understand climate change in their local area and how to adapt. The project is engaging communities using augmented and virtual reality games, such as Minecraft, and online learning resources to help communities better understand how climate change is affecting their local area, supporting communities in becoming more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Please see the CCAT website for a full list of speakers and registration information. You can also follow the project on Twitter.

For further information contact Dr Emma McKinley, Cardiff University.