Project Rationale

COASTAL ADAPTATION FOR RESTORATIVE JUSTICE (”CARE”)

Adaptation to climate change presents a host of justice dilemmas and we must be able to recognise and address past, present, and future harms caused by adaptation action and inaction: this is known as restorative justice. On the coast, the loss of place and sense of security are just some of the harms experienced by coastal communities, but the non-human world (nature, animals, and plants) is equally at-risk. The challenge for restorative justice is how to resolve these injustices in coastal adaptation and planning for the future.

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The CARE project combines perspectives from geography, political science, philosophy, and the environmental humanities to explore how restorative in/justices for human and non-human worlds are influenced by coastal adaptation (in)action. The research is using a range of methods (such as literary analysis, experimental reading/creative writing groups, interviews, and workshops) with multiple stakeholders (communities, policymakers, and practicioners) to advance theoretical understanding of restorative in/justice and inform recommendations to facilitate restoratively just adaptation in the future.

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CARE is funded by the British Academy through the Knowledge Frontiers: International Interdisciplinary Research Projects 2025. The project is led by the University of Nottingham (Dr Meghan Alexander) in collaboration with University College Cork (Ireland), and Radboud University and Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands).