DKN Working Group: Anticipating and Transforming Coastal Futures

Coasts are more than the physical meeting points of ocean and land. They are rich in tangible and intangible values that are often contested, and coastal systems are not only unique but also tremendously complex. This complexity is a result of the convergence of cultural, social, economic and political considerations of both coastal communities and populations at large. The multitude of human activities depend on a range of ecosystem services of coastal systems. At the same time these human activities are productive of rapid social-ecological change, including through climate change and related impacts. This is particularly true for tropical coasts that are important habitats for the human (e.g. megacities) and non-human world (e.g. biodiversity hotspots). In this working group we aim to think about and outline positive futures for tropical coasts.

The working group draws on the diversity of its members for a systematic dialogue on learning from different inter- and transdisciplinary examples in practice across institutional boundaries. It will critically reflect on how transdisciplinary sustainability science focused on the coastal and marine environment is approached within the German research community and examine the conditions for epistemological and ontological pluralism and effective transdisciplinary coastal research in a global context. It will make recommendations for approaches and methods, stakeholder engagement at the science-policy-interface, actionable outcomes, and human capacity development.

The working group will convene a number of virtual and in-person meetings and workshops and exchanges with stakeholders over the next two years, and will work closely with the Future Earth Global Research Project, Future Earth Coasts (FEC).

Expected outputs: