Exploring past and present dynamics of coastal protection as possible signposts for the future?

Abstract

Coastal protection comprises shoreline preservation and stabilisation as well as flood protection. Besides these technical aspects, coastal protection also represents a genuine social endeavour. Within this interplay of technical and social dimensions, planning and acting for the safety of people and assets along the coastline has become increasingly difficult for the responsible authorities. Within this context, Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for coastal protection offer a promising addition to and adaptation for existing protection measures such as dikes, sea walls or groynes. They bear the potential to adapt to shifting boundary conditions caused by climate change and cater the growing social call for sustainable solutions that benefit water, nature and people alike. This paper analyses, how NbS can fit into the entangled and historically grown system of coastal protection. As a paradigmatic example, the German islands of Amrum and Föhr were chosen. To contextualise the topic, a brief recap of the formation of these North Frisian Islands and their social history regarding coastal protection is given. This will be followed by a review of the relevant literature on the development of coastal protection on the two islands including its historical development. Using the theory of Social Representations (SRs), these historical insights are analytically contrasted with a synchronic snapshot gained from stakeholder interviews about the assessment of protective measures, and their anticipated future development with regard to the possible feasibility and implementation of NbS. This analysis reveals that, historically and synchronically seen, coastal protection on both islands is rather characterised by a dynamic rationale and the constant testing of and experimenting with different measures and concepts. However, well-established measures like diking or the construction of brushwood groynes for foreland creation are not being questioned while new approaches running against this rationale such as NbS are in many cases initially met with scepticism and doubt. Out of this follows that past and present dynamics in coastal protection play a vital role in planning. Hence, the implementation of NbS as signposts for the future requires an integrated and balanced interdisciplinary approach that considers the socio-technical dimensions of coastal protection for future coastal adaptation.