Dorset Council is delivering coastal adaptation as a non-traditional form of coastal risk management. This work is currently being delivered through the Future Coast Dorset programme which includes the Future Coast Charmouth and Future Coast North Swanage projects.
These projects are currently externally funded by the Environment Agency's Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme. These projects look to identify and trial innovative approaches to protecting people and places from the impacts of coastal change.
The Future Coast Dorset programme is the first attempt to trial this work, however, Dorset Council endeavours to apply the learning from this programme elsewhere and identify future projects at different locations - specifically in areas where coastal adaptation is demonstrably more economically and environmentally sustainable than implementing traditional coastal protection schemes.
Traditional coastal protection schemes in the UK include sea walls, groynes, rock armour and revetments, all designed to reduce erosion and defend against wave action along vulnerable shorelines.
On the contrary, coastal adaptation involves innovative approaches to coastal protection; this includes nature-based solutions like saltmarsh restoration, dune management, and vegetative planting to stabilise coastal slopes, alongside transition or rollback strategies that relocate assets away from erosion-prone areas.
Other forms of coastal adaptation include improving surface and ground water management as well as community engagement to improve awareness around property purchase in areas affected by coastal change.