Coastal Conflicts

Mapping Storm Surge Protection Disagreements and Solutions in Denmark

Coastal Conflicts investigates the social, cultural, and political dimensions of disagreements over coastal protection, while also mapping existing solutions and best practice cases, with the aim of providing suggestions for how storm surge protection can be best achieved in the future.

Flooded canal and man on bike cycling through water. Photo: Colby Winfield, Unsplash

Coastal Conflicts examines which issues create conflicts for coastal protection activities, and how such conflicts develop and in which forums they play out. In doing so, the project will do a systematic mapping of the characteristics of these conflicts across Denmark, and conduct ethnographic fieldwork in three selected case study areas of Denmark. The overall impact aim of Coastal Conflicts is to provide a set of recommendations and suggestions as to how citizens, municipalities and other authorities can deal with disagreements in the future, which might mitigate the risk of protection plans being postponed to the detriment of homeowners. The aim is thus to make a substantial contribution to climate adaptation research in Denmark.

Research Activities in Coastal Conflicts

Coastal Conflicts revolves around two main research activities.

1) The project conducts a systematic and exhaustive mapping of all conflicts and disagreements tied to coastal protection measures and activities in Denmark. Through systematic use of online searches with keywords, on municipal websites, and through social media platforms, the aim is to document the existence of conflicts and their characteristics, including which actors are in conflict with one another, and what the disagreement revolves over. In the analysis, we hope to uncover similarities and differences across geographical areas of Denmark.

2) The project will also carry out long term ethnographic fieldwork in three key locations in Denmark where there are ongoing coastal protection activities and disagreements. This research activity is carried out by PhD student Anne Sofie Beer Nielsen.

Presentations and Public Dissemination

Kortlægning af Konflikter om Kystbeskyttelse i Danmark. Presentation at the Danish Coastal Authority, Lemvig, Denmark. 21.10.2024.

"A Surge of Attention: The Dynamics of Short-lived Political Attention Following Storm Surges in Denmark". Presentation at POLLEN conference, Lund University, Sweden. 10.06.2024.

Publications

Nielsen, ASB and Albris, K. 2024. "Social Responses to Flood Risks from the Sea: Mapping Coastal Conflicts in Eastern Denmark." In: Gertrud Jørgensen, Tom Nielsen, Karsten Arnbjerg-Nielsen, and Kamilla Stener Møller (eds.), Planning and Designing Cities for a Rising Sea Level. Aarhus Architectural Press. (forthcoming)