Development of European site selection tool for managed realignment

Accelerating rising sea levels, aging coastal defences, and an ever increasing demand for land along the coast, require imminent, reactive, as well as long-term, anticipatory, adaptation by society. One such, relatively novel adaptation strategy, is managed realignment. Managed realignment site selection being non-standardised, this has, to date, necessitated the development of a site-specific selection process for most potential schemes. This status quo has attributed a perceived complexity to managed realignment strategy implementation. This study explores the possibility of creating a site selection tool that may be applied to potential managed realignment sites throughout Europe. A representative range of 9 locations in 9 Western European countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, UK, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria and Italy) are looked at with regards to the current state of managed realignment as well as the potential drivers for managed realignment, constraints hindering the implementation of schemes and the site selection tools currently being employed. Through methods such as questionnaires, interviews and selective site visits, data is gathered for each study site. Key findings regarding managed realignment criteria and site selection processes are then collated into a Europe-wide applicable site selection tool. This study finds that, although drivers for managed realignment schemes vary from site to site, a primary driver may be identified for any given managed realignment scheme. Also, current constraints to scheme implementation are seen to be dominated by financial and political factors. Further, this study finds that current site selection tools contain adequate detail in criteria, but assume pre-conceived drivers and possibilities for managed realignment that exclude the possibility of wider-spread use in other schemes. In addition, the lack of quantitative criteria analysis and the need for a ‘filter’ in the selection process are identified in this study. Using the data gathered the European Site Selection Tool (ESST) is created and tested on a site selection case study along the Solent. The ESST is found to perform satisfactorily though further testing is recommended.CoMEM - Coastal and Marine Engineering and ManagementSection Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience