Visions of our coastline - looking beyond Dystopia: June 16 2014

The words used about our coastal environment are frequently negative: vulnerability, erosion, setbacks, retreat; they articulate a sense of loss, the belief that how it is or was very recently is how it should always be – and that this is under real or potential threat.

But another word is far more appropriate, and potentially far more enabling for the future of our coasts, just as it is for their past and present: dynamic. Just like our landscape more generally, coasts have never been static, and while today’s reality may be attractive, particularly from a very local perspective, it really does no justice to the true story of the past; neither does it help realise potential for the future.

The process is amplified by one of the key spectres of our time: sea-level rise. Nobody could exaggerate its importance in the medium to long term. But it should not be allowed to dominate our thinking about processes that have been shaping our shores for hundreds of years. Sea level, like the landscape, is also dynamic, and in some areas, sea-level rise is a predominantly natural process.

This subject is a very live one, with a number of dimensions: the politics of the coast are every bit as lively as those of flooding; and the future of the coastline is the subject of intense study, from a number of perspectives, with a major goal being a more comprehensive assessment of vulnerability, resilience and capacity.

Work from an arts perspective has been done on this, not least in a programme led by Professor Stephen Daniels and a range of colleagues, who have undertaken artistic interventions at a range of coastal projects, with a film summarising their work here.

This workshop is intended to continue the process of bringing a different voice and perspective into that exploration, and invite others into the discussion. How might artistic sensibility contribute to this complex and emotionally charged subject? We don’t know the answers, but the intention is to try to suggest some.

The workshop will include presentations by Professors Nick Clifford and Mark Pelling from King’s London, and Jon French of UCL. They will outline their work, including novel and technical coastal assessment approaches, and set out the current state of play – in research, coastal politics and more generally relating to changing paradigms of environmental change and uncertainty. The rest of the session will be devoted to discussing ideas that emerge from this and, we hope, suggesting ways forward.

Where: The Pyramid Room, 4th Floor, Strand Campus, King’s College London

When: 6.00 to 9.00 PM on Monday June 16th June 2014.

How to reserve a place: book here - registration is free. Numbers are strictly limited, and this is bound to be popular. So if you book, please make sure you come!

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