Who we are
The Coast-R Network+ brings together academics, UK marine, coastal and government agencies, industry partners, local authorities, the voluntary sector and communities most affected by coastal change.
Our founding academic partners are:
NETWORK LEAD
University of Hull
Shaping a fairer, brighter, carbon-neutral future for all.
We’re research leaders in clean energy, climate and flood resilience, environmental humanities, health inequalities, and the fight against modern slavery. Our academics are busy tackling some of the planet’s greatest problems head on. Their research is helping more patients to beat cancer, more communities to prepare for rising flood risks, and helping build the largest wind farms in the world.
The University’s Energy and Environment Institute (EEI) has experts working on risks and resilience in relation to climate change, flooding, marine pollution and offshore renewables, especially in coastal and estuarine places. We work closely with communities, and our Risky Cities and the Rising Tide of Humber projects used the arts, heritage and creativity to help people engage with environmental and climate action in watery and flood-prone places.
We’re proud to be placed among the best in the world by the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, based on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In SDG17: Partnership for the Goals, we’re ranked 12th in the world and 2nd in the UK. Through partnerships, like the Coast-R Network, we strive to create a more sustainable and just future for all.
University of Aberystwyth
As the first University College in Wales, we have a long-standing reputation for delivering academic excellence, an exceptional student experience and world-leading research. Research and innovation are the lifeblood of Aberystwyth University. They deepen our knowledge and understanding, inform our teaching, and deliver real benefits to everyday lives in Wales and the wider world. We have a wide range of research expertise in coastal environments and ecology, sustainability, rural and coastal communities.
Recent partnership projects focusing on climate change, heritage, sustainable tourism and coastal communities include CHERISH, Ports Past and Present and CUPHAT, all funded through the EU Ireland – Wales Territorial Co-Operation Programme. Aberystwyth University leads the £5 million Rural Wales Local Policy Innovation Partnership, bringing together researchers, policy makers and communities from across rural Wales to address key challenges facing rural communities and to build a more sustainable and inclusive future.
As a bilingual coastal community in a largely rural part of mid-Wales, Aberystwyth brings a distinctive perspective. Our Dialogue Centre at the University works to support collaborative knowledge exchange for growing sustainable economies and encouraging active citizens through partnerships like the Coast-R Network to improve quality of life in Mid Wales and beyond.
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow has been changing the world since 1451. We are a world top 100 university and a member of the prestigious Russell Group of leading UK research universities. We are committed to tackling the most pressing global challenges facing humanity and the natural world. We were the first European university to declare it would divest from fossil fuels by 2024 and the first in Scotland to declare a climate emergency.
We have a vast array of expertise in coastal communities, habitats and climate change risks and governance. The University has long-standing beacons of excellence on addressing inequalities, environmental and public health, public policy, in understanding coastal communities, landscapes and climate change, and cultural and creative economies where researchers have shaped policy and practices with practitioners and communities across Scotland, the wider UK and internationally. This work is often in partnership with government agencies such as the Scottish Government and multiple agencies (www.dynamiccoast.com).
Glasgow itself is an estuarine post-industrial city, one of the UKs Rockefeller Resilience and C40 cities. The city is closely collaborating with the University as part of a £10M NERC Strategic Programme Grant on Place-based Sustainable Urban Resilience called Gallant, addressing sustainability, climate, social and ecological challenges.
We look forward to hosting Coast-R Network workshops and associated training in our Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre (ARC) – a focal point for collaborative research, researcher development and a space to co-produce with practitioners and communities.
University of Leeds
Established in 1904, the University of Leeds is one of the largest universities in the UK. We’re part of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities and are renowned globally for the quality of our research and teaching. Through collaboration, we harness our expertise in research and education to advance knowledge, transform lives and shape a better future for our communities, our region and the world. Working with others, we will use our collective talents, expertise and shared endeavour in research and education to address local and global challenges, achieve social justice, reduce inequalities, and help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Sustainability Research Institute specialises in participatory, action-oriented research that brings together government, business, NGOs and local communities to enhance the relevance, quality and practical influence of our research. The School of Earth and Environment is a major international powerhouse for environmental research that has wide-ranging and positive impacts on the world. The Priestley Centre for Climate Futures is a world-leading climate centre based at the University of Leeds. From local to global, we ensure that climate action is informed by the latest research, collaborating with organisations and individuals to transform our expertise into real-world impact.
University of Liverpool
Founded in 1881 as the original ‘red brick’, the University of Liverpool is one of the UK’s leading research-intensive higher education institutions.
Our researchers will contribute to the Coast-R Network through expertise in sustainable coasts and oceans; coastal and estuarine dynamics and hazards, including climate change impacts; coastal heritage; and translating science into coastal and environmental benefits.
Located in a maritime and port city with strong connection to coastal communities, regional government and industries, we have an established track record in delivering a range of research and innovation programmes across these sectors and working with heritage and arts partners – Centre for Port and Maritime History with the Maritime Museum (1996-). We are lead partners in the Liverpool Institute for Sustainable Coasts and Oceans which brings together marine scientists, social scientists, engineers and economists to meet the challenges of a changing ocean and a changing coastal population. We are training the next generation of researchers to address environmental maritime challenges through our Centre for Doctoral Training in Net Zero Maritime Energy Solutions (N0MES). We are a member of a member of the Maritime Research and Innovation UK (MarRI-UK) and part of a £21M national research hub to decarbonise the UK maritime sector.
University of Southampton
Collaborating across research disciplines, the University of Southampton tackles today’s global challenges alongside industry, government, and local communities in and beyond the UK. Our work ranges from enhancing cancer treatments to revolutionising renewable energy and defeating COVID-19. Our research addresses climate change, social and health inequalities, conservation of biodiversity, poverty, and recession.
We’re a major centre for oceanography and marine geoscience, and our Marine and Maritime Institute enables innovative multi-disciplinary work on coasts and seas. Our Arts and Humanities Institute places culture at the heart of world-changing research, and supports socially engaged, creative and critical work. Our Institutes for Web Sciences and Life Sciences address the increasingly complex challenges to technological and living systems; and our Sustainability and Resilience Institute works to answer the question: How will we choose to manage our planet for ourselves and future generations?
Our founding partners are:
