CCAT in 2021

As we approach the end of 2021, we thought we would take the opportunity to reflect on what has been a busy and action-packed year for the CCAT team. Many of the challenges that we first experienced in 2020 spilled over into 2021, and yet, the team have been working hard to continue our work engaging with communities and stakeholders across our case study areas. Here’s a snapshot of just some of what we’ve been up to during the second and final year of CCAT.

CCAT 2021: Exchanging Knowledge and Best Practice Across Borders

Following the success of our 1st CCAT cross border event in 2020, the CCAT team were delighted to host our second networking and knowledge exchange event. The event brought together 22 speakers representing a range of institutions, sectors and places, with expertise in policy making, coastal management, climate change adaptation, community engagement and more. Session themes across the event were:

• Climate Change on the Coast
• Climate Change Education and Youth Voices
• Engaging Communities on Climate Change

Across the 3 days, CCAT 2021 welcomed a total of 191 individual attendees, with approximately 90–100 attendees each day. CCAT 2021 sessions were recorded ensuring access and legacy for CCAT. Recordings and information about the programme can be found on the CCAT website. We got great feedback!

“An interesting whistle-stop tour to different disciplinary (and interdisciplinary) approaches to working with stakeholders to address / understand climate change, and the introduction to the researchers presenting them.”

“Learning about other people’s methodologies and hearing other people’s solutions to similar challenges as those we have.”

Amroth Virtual Tour

Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum have updated learning resources focussed on the coastal village of Amroth to include a virtual tool. Google images were combined with 3d images taken specifically for this purpose were used to create the tour.

Resources were created to support schools during the pandemic and to support visits to the site in the future. The village has a history linked to fossil fuels, remnants of a forest submerged after the last ice age, extensive sea defences as well as being in the front line for coastal impacts of climate change.

School Exchange with Ysgol Bro Gwaun and St Joseph’s Secondary School

As part of our activities, CCAT partners Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum and Fingal County Council worked with local schools in Pembrokeshire and Fingal, to deliver a school exchange activity. The aim of this exchange was to get students to consider the different ways their communities are experiencing climate change in their local area. This included a range of activities, including using the card activity in groups to work out priority areas for action. The schools then got involved in our CCAT 2021 event, providing much needed insight into the views and perceptions of young people in our case study communities.

Sea change, Take Action!

One of the awareness raising material CCAT produced was an animation aimed at coastal communities, especially young people, telling the story of how coastal areas are constantly changing. Inspired by the case of Portrane, Fingal, “Sea Change, Take Action!” explains the geological evolution of coastal areas, presents the threats of sea-level rise due to climate change and describes available adaptation solutions to deal with coastal erosion.

Minecraft Workshops

The CCAT team also held workshops using Minecraft as part of the geodesign project. Young people and their parents from around the Rogerstown Estuary area were invited to a series of online workshops where they were given access to Minecraft accounts and tasked to develop environmentally friendly design to enhance the area.

Longitudinal Study

And finally, the Longitudinal Study produced by the team at UCC was published to support Fingal County Council in managing responses to the impacts of climate change, illustrated by the continuous process of coastal erosion at Burrow Beach, Portrane (Fingal, North Co. Dublin) and prospective flooding scenarios.

The objective of this study was to present a baseline assessment aimed at providing a greater understanding of:

• the coastal changes experienced over time at Burrow Beach,
• the current and future impacts due to climate change scenarios, and
• to examine relevant legislation, plans and policies in relation to the debate on coastal climate adaptation strategies locally, regionally, and nationally.

You can find out so much more about the project on the CCAT website.