Governance context for coastal innovations in England: The case of Sandscaping in North Norfolk

Coastal management in Europe is shifting toward soft coastal protection strategies to deal with flood risk and erosion. In the UK, a sand replenishment in North Norfolk is planned to take place in the coming years, inspired by the Dutch ‘Sand engine’: a large-scale sand replenishment executed in 2011. Besides being faced with technical challenges, the initiative requires fine-tuning to the local conditions. In this article we present a theory guided assessment of the governance context for Sandscaping in England. We focus upon North Norfolk, where Sandscaping was included as an option to protect the Bacton Gas Terminal from cliff erosion. Our aim is to contribute to further elaboration of Sandscaping potential along other locations in England. The lessons we draw about implementing Sandscaping initiatives have emerged from real project experience and could therefore be relevant in other coastal contexts