CLIMATE CHANGE:NUI GALWAY researchers are participating in a new EU-funded alliance to deal with coastal flooding and threats posed by climate change.
The Atlantic Network for Coastal Risk Management (ANCORIM) has been granted almost €2 million to draw up plans that would “bridge the gap” between climate change scientists and coastal decision makers.
Geographers from NUI Galway’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI) will work with counterparts in France, Spain and Portugal. Údarás na Gaeltachta and Mayo County Council are participating with NUIG in the Irish element of the work programme.
An assessment of planning practices in the Border, Midlands and Western (BMW) region has begun to identify how and if climate change is considered in planning decisions.
Such work will focus on rural and urban coastal land planning and shoreline erosion. High-risk coastal communities will be consulted through focus groups and interviews.
“As a nation, we need to realise the importance of climate proofing our policies,” Dr Martina Prendergast, ECI development manager at NUIG said.
“The ANCORIM project is about supporting the futures of coastal communities all along the Atlantic rim of Europe. The support of the community is key to the success of this project,” Dr Prendergast said.
NUIG Prof Micheál Ó Cinnéide said the work was all the more important because it is “well known that societies around the world tend to underestimate risks associated with many natural phenomena such as floods, droughts and earthquakes. Unfortunately, risks to coastal zones associated with the changing climate are currently incorporated in decision-making largely on an ad-hoc basis only in many countries”.
