Eight new projects funded to strengthen coastal resilience across the UK 

Llanelli Coastline

The Coast-R Network and the Resilient UK Coastal Communities and Seas programme have announced the first eight projects to receive support through the Coast-R Small Grants Fund. This inaugural round of the small grants fund has focused on Early Career Researchers (ECRs) leading innovative, community engaged research to address the challenges facing coastal communities across the UK, and has awarded £156,930.   Prof. Briony McDonagh, … Read more

Words for Work: The Coast-R Living Glossary

Multi coloured type indicating considerations in making a definition of flood resilience

Refrains: enough is enough Less discussion, more decision-making. Less talk, more action. Less theory, more practice. These were strong refrains in the presentations, workshops, and informal conversations across the Coast-R Annual Forum in Glasgow in September 2025. We have enough data, we hold enough knowledge and it’s time—and beyond timely—to start doing more! And so … Read more

Looking back on the first year of the Coast-R Network

Floods Minister, Emma Hardy MP meets Prof Briony McDonagh at the Flood and Coast conference

Prof Briony McDonagh, Coast-R Network lead, reflects on the successes of the Network’s first year, and looks forward to the next programme milestones. 1st July marked the beginning of Year 2 of the Coast-R Network programme, which will be led by colleagues at the University of Glasgow. In the last couple of weeks, we have … Read more

Spotlight on the TRANSECTS Project: Meet Sofie Illemann Jæger

View of offshore wind turbines from the eastern coast of Scotland

Dr Sofie Illemann Jæger is a postdoctoral associate with the project “TRANSitions In Energy For Coastal Communities Over Time And Space” (TRANSECTS), one of the four projects funded by the ReCCS programme. She is based at the School of Energy, Geosciences, Infrastructure and Society at Heriot-Watt University. What will you be doing as part of … Read more

Reporting on the TRANSECTS 2nd Annual Meeting 2025

TRANSECTS teams members by the coast

Assoc Prof Karen Alexander, Project lead for TRANSitions In Energy For Coastal Communities Over Time And Space (TRANSECTS), reports on their second Annual Meeting. The whole research team gathered in Stromness, Orkney (and online) to reflect on progress, share insights and plan the road ahead. Meeting Sessions Held at the International Centre for Island Technology, … Read more

Coast-R Webinar – Strategic Coastal Monitoring – a Resource for Resilience

2-3pm, Wed 17 September 2025, online The fourth session in our Coast-R Network Webinars Series was on ‘ Strategic Coastal Monitoring – a Resource for Resilience’. With a presentation by Dr Charlie Thompson, Director, Channel Coastal Observatory, University of Southampton The webinar was chaired by the Coast-R Network’s Prof Stuart McLelland. Stuart is Deputy Director … Read more

Subtle and Simple Surprises: reflections on co-creating a ‘Living Glossary’

Workshop participants writing on flipchart paper

At the Coast-R Network Launch Event, delegates were invited to participate in a ‘Living Glossary’ Workshop. In this blog from Prof Stephanie Jones and her workshop co-hosts, she discusses the process that led to some surprising outcomes. The fluidity of words can be surprising. As a participant in the Coast-R Living Glossary workshop commented, “ocean … Read more

Coast-R: New resilient coastal communities and seas network announced

A new £2m national network has been launched to generate knowledge, action and resilience for UK coastal communities and seas. The COAST-R Network is part funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and DEFRA under their Resilient Coastal Communities and Seas programme and is part of a £14.8m investment in place-based research projects aiming to … Read more

Creative methods for Deep Mapping the Network

Multiple polaroid photos attached to a UK map

Delegates to the recent national launch of the Coast-R Network were invited to engage in some creative methods as part of the afternoon workshops. This blog, from workshop organisers Dr Sarah Gambell and Dr Kate Smith, shares some insights into what happened when delegates were invited to get their hands on paint, clay, glue and more. … Read more