Climate change may increase flooding or coastal erosion for many communities. Developing a common understanding of climate change is challenging when predictions are uncertain and the range of options are unclear.

We’re therefore developing new, innovative ways to work with communities and allow more collaborative decision-making.

We’re doing this by working with stakeholders and residents in two pilot locations to trial new engagement approaches.

We’re working with:

• Hemsby in Norfolk, which has lost homes to coastal erosion and storm surges
• Caterham and Old Coulsdon in Surrey/Croydon, where surface water and sewer flooding are ongoing issues, which will be made worse by climate change

Challenges

We reviewed evidence on community engagement on climate adaptation.

The six main challenges we found are:

• readiness – the knowledge, skills and capacities needed to engage in adaptation planning
• framing – we need to ask what is meant and understood by climate change, adaptation and success
• mental health impacts – we need to take emotional challenges seriously
• place attachment – emotional connections to places can affect how people think about the future
• scale – people and organisations can work at different scales which can lead to a mismatch of priorities
• power and politics – engagement and adaptation processes can be contentious

We’re developing and trialling an engagement programme to respond to these challenges.

In Hemsby we’re trialling a readiness assessment tool so that we can understand the knowledge and interest of residents in local flood and coastal risks. This has included a community wide survey to help us understand a broader set of perspectives from across the community. We’re also learning what residents value about their area.

In Caterham and Old Coulsdon we’re delivering a simulation exercise, which asks participants to consider a range of options to manage flood/coastal risk, recognising the benefits and trade-offs with each choice. It encourages them to think from multiple different perspectives. It has been well received by a range of people and organisations.

Practitioners and decision-makers will have more ways to engage with communities on long-term adaptation. The readiness assessment is already being adapted for use in the Innovative Flood and Coastal Resilience Programme.

This research, in addition to the new national strategy, gives us a real opportunity to think differently about community adaptation to climate change. It puts people at the heart of what we do and recognises the importance of local decisions being made together with communities.

Read the community engagement on climate adaptation evidence review.

Get in touch

For further information contact: Dr Kate Kipling, Senior Scientist
email: Kate.Kipling1@environment-agency.gov.uk
Project reference: FRS17192

Mr Duddridge was accompanied by the UK Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education and Trade Envoy to Nigeria, Helen Grant MP.

During the 4-day visit, the Mr. Duddridge and Ms. Grant covered a wide range of issues, including human rights, girls’ education, and electoral reform. They discussed how the UK can work in partnership with Nigeria to address insecurity; and how to support economic development and mutual prosperity as the world builds back better from COVID-19.

In Abuja, Minister Duddridge met Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Senate President Ahmed Lawan, Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, the Governors of Kaduna and Jigawa, ECOWAS President Jean-Claude Brou, leading civil society organisations and members of the international community. Ms Grant also met the Minister of Education.

During the visit, the Minister for Africa and the Trade Envoy attended the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority and Konexa, a British company, which will help increase sustainable energy access in Nigeria. The delegation also visited a government secondary school in Abuja that is currently being supported by the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme.

In Lagos, Mr. Duddridge met the Governors of Lagos and Edo States, had a dinner with members of the Nigerian creative sector and met representatives of UK business and investment groups in Nigeria. Mr. Duddridge also visited Apapa seaport, where he took a tour of a terminal and met Nigerian agencies to discuss law enforcement and trade facilitation between the UK and Nigeria.

At the end of the visit, the Minister for Africa, James Duddridge MP, said:

The UK-Nigeria relationship matters to both countries. Over 4 days, we have covered a wide range of issues, including how best to strengthen trade and investment cooperation, how to get and keep more girls in school, and how to work more closely together on global challenges such as COVID-19 and on climate change ahead of COP26.

I also heard from Nigerian civil society the importance of delivering electoral reform, and addressing human rights concerns.

Nigerian stability and security matters to the UK. We want to work with Nigeria to improve both, and encourage all in the country to work together to promote peace and unity.

The UK PM’s Special Envoy for Girls’ Education and Trade Envoy to Nigeria, Helen Grant MP, said:

I was pleased to visit Nigeria again and have the opportunity to enhance macro-economic reform and promote new trade and investment opportunities for the UK through our support to British businesses who want to do business in Nigeria.

But I was also able, through my engagements here, to champion access to education for girls in Nigeria and reiterate the UK’s firm belief that every girl, wherever she is born, should get at least 12 years of quality education.

More detail on the visit is on Twitter @JamesDuddridge, @HelenGrantMP, @CatrionaLaing1 and @UKinNigeria.

More detail on the Konexa Memorandum of Understanding announcement is available on request.

The event included the participation of government officials from the Ministry of Human Rights and the Human Rights Protection Mechanism.

Ambassador Nick Whittingham said that the United Kingdom had a strong track record of advocating for and protecting media freedom. In Honduras, he praises the role of the independent media in promoting transparency, good governance and inclusive dialogue.

The event began with opening remarks from Dina Meza, founder and current president of PEN Honduras; and recently awarded the Sir Henry Brooke Award for Human Rights Defenders. Meza expressed her concerns around threats against media freedom and called for concrete actions from the government.

The Vice Minister for Protection, Rosa Seaman, shared the perspective from the Ministry of Human Rights regarding the threats and opportunities around Media Freedom, focusing on the role of the government in providing a safe environment for journalists to work and inform.

The legal adviser of the Protection Mechanism, Cristóbal Martínez, spoke about the efforts made by this tool in providing attention to journalists around the country, focusing on the challenges and opportunities of working together with the Honduran Journalist Association.

Following the interventions from the government, Carles Turner, President of the Centenary of PEN International, led the discussion by sharing questions made by local and international NGOs which support and accompany journalists in Honduras. They discussed commitments, challenges and opportunities around Media Freedom in Honduras.

Finally, Jennifer Clement, President of PEN International, gave the closing remarks emphasising on the importance of ensuring a safe environment for journalists in Honduras and building trust between government and journalists around media freedom.

Nick Whittingham, British Ambassador for Honduras, said:

We support a free, independent, and diverse media that holds government and those in power into account. As a former journalist I’m convinced that the press provides a platform through which human rights can be promoted and upheld; and it enables engaged and empowered citizens to be in a position to make well-informed and balanced decisions about their own lives.