Narrative perspectives on the development of coastal pilot projects

Pilot projects are favoured instruments for exploring and perhaps realising<br/>policy change. The challenges that coastal policy faces, the frequency with<br/>which pilot projects are implemented, and the criticisms regarding their<br/>efficacy make it interesting and relevant to study pilot projects in this policy<br/>field. This dissertation on ‘Narrative perspectives on the development of<br/>coastal pilot projects’ aims to deepen understanding of the development<br/>of pilot projects in their actor-networks. It utilises the concept of narratives<br/>both in the conceptualisation of the development of pilot projects and in the<br/>design of a research strategy, choosing to learn from the experiences of actors<br/>involved in coastal pilot projects.<br/>The Sand Engine in the Netherlands and Ystad’s sand nourishment<br/>project in Scania, Sweden, are the two coastal pilot projects from which<br/>empirical data are drawn. Retrospective biographies of the Sand Engine<br/>pilot project, and the narrative competitions active in both the Sand Engine<br/>and Ystad cases were identified using deductive and inductive narrative<br/>analysis methods. This thesis highlights that pilot projects function not only as<br/>learning instruments for understanding the (bio)physical system, but also as<br/>instruments where actor-based learning is storified and success can be claimed<br/>and institutionally anchored