TY - JOUR

T1 - Design and Insights Gained in a Real-World Laboratory for the Implementation of New Coastal Protection Strategies

AU - Kempa, Daniela

AU - Karrasch, Leena

AU - Schlurmann, Torsten

AU - Prominski, Martin

AU - Lojek, Oliver

AU - Schulte-Güstenberg, Evke

AU - Visscher, Jan Hendrik

AU - Zielinski, Oliver

AU - Goseberg, Nils

N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Research and Culture and the Volkswagen Foundation., FKZ: 76251-17-5/19, project title: ‘Gute Küste Niedersachsen’.

PY - 2023/3/5

Y1 - 2023/3/5

N2 - Novel strategies in coastal protection are needed to cope with climate change-induced sea level rise. They aim at the sustainable development of coastal areas in light of intensification and land use changes. A promising approach is the design of nature-based solutions (NbS), complementing the safety levels of technical infrastructure. However, NbS lack a widespread and large-scale implementation. To address this deficit, co-design concepts are needed that combine experiences from science and practice. This work presents and discusses the approach of a coast-specific real-world laboratory (RwL) addressing the inclusive design of ecosystem-based coastal protection. Strategies of RwLs are applied for the first time in a coastal context along the North Sea coastline in Germany. We found the concept of RwLs suitable for coastal transdisciplinary research, although adaptions in the spatial reference level or flexibility in location and time of experimentation are necessary. A profound actor analysis is indispensable to specify participatory processes and interaction levels. A criteria-based cooperative selection of RwL sites helps to reveal and solve conflicting interests to achieve trust between science and practice. Addressing site-specific characteristics and practitioners’ needs, our coastal RwL provides a mutual learning space to develop and test NbS to complement technical coastal protection.

AB - Novel strategies in coastal protection are needed to cope with climate change-induced sea level rise. They aim at the sustainable development of coastal areas in light of intensification and land use changes. A promising approach is the design of nature-based solutions (NbS), complementing the safety levels of technical infrastructure. However, NbS lack a widespread and large-scale implementation. To address this deficit, co-design concepts are needed that combine experiences from science and practice. This work presents and discusses the approach of a coast-specific real-world laboratory (RwL) addressing the inclusive design of ecosystem-based coastal protection. Strategies of RwLs are applied for the first time in a coastal context along the North Sea coastline in Germany. We found the concept of RwLs suitable for coastal transdisciplinary research, although adaptions in the spatial reference level or flexibility in location and time of experimentation are necessary. A profound actor analysis is indispensable to specify participatory processes and interaction levels. A criteria-based cooperative selection of RwL sites helps to reveal and solve conflicting interests to achieve trust between science and practice. Addressing site-specific characteristics and practitioners’ needs, our coastal RwL provides a mutual learning space to develop and test NbS to complement technical coastal protection.

KW - coastal transformation

KW - ecosystem services

KW - Gute Küste Niedersachsen

KW - nature-based solutions

KW - southern North Sea

KW - transdisciplinarity

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149924152&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/su15054623

DO - 10.3390/su15054623

M3 - Article

VL - 15

JO - Sustainability

JF - Sustainability

SN - 2071-1050

IS - 5

M1 - 4623

ER -