A multi-million pound Eastern Arc project will see University of Kent academics collaborate with regional institutions to explore the complex challenges facing our diverse UK coastal areas and develop resilience within them.<\/p>\n
The \u00a32.9 million ARISE project \u2013 Advancing Resilience and Innovation for a Sustainable Environment \u2013 is one of four projects to receive a total of \u00a314.8 million from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).<\/p>\n
Professor Catherine Richardson and Professor Jim Ang from the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries at Kent will work with project leads at the University of Essex, and a range of other key stakeholders including the universities of East Anglia, Aberystwyth, Birkbeck, Manchester, Suffolk, as well as the Centre of Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.<\/p>\n
ARISE will focus on the east \u2013 the Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex coasts, which include communities from England\u2019s highest and lowest levels of deprivation. This coastal region has more inequalities in health, wellbeing, life expectancy, earnings and education compared to nearby inland communities.<\/p>\n
Professors Richardson and Ang will lead on creative engagement with these communities. At the end of the project, this will be used to inform a powerful and practical toolkit which local councils and other organisations can use to address the challenges facing our coast.<\/p>\n
The aim of the project is to benefit policymakers, local communities, public managers, voluntary groups, researchers, landowners, businesses and residents along the entire UK coast.<\/p>\n
Director of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries at Kent, Professor Catherine Richardson, said: \u2018We\u2019re excited to get started on this large and important project, bringing our expertise in finding new creative ways to work with our coastal communities, including immersive technologies, to think through sustainable futures with them.\u2019<\/p>\n
Director of Eastern Arc, Phil Ward, said: \u2018Eastern Arc brings together our universities to work for the benefit of our region and the nation as a whole. Collaborating with other stakeholders within our region \u2013 local authorities, businesses, charities and other universities \u2013 offers a great opportunity to do even more, and ARISE is a great example of this.\u2019<\/p>\n
You can follow the work of ARISE on X (@ARISEResilience), LinkedIn and Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"