Coastal protection in order to strengthen coastal ecosystems in Lower Saxony: A new research collaboration between Leibniz University Hannover, University of Oldenburg, and TU Braunschweig will address this topic. Spokesperson for the collaboration is Professor Schlurmann (LUH). The alliance is in receipt of 2.5 million euros of funding from "Niedersächsisches Vorab", an initiative of the Volkswagen Foundation.
Since beginning to settle coastal areas, mankind has been attempting to protect itself from the powers of the sea while using its resources. Today, the experience gained is reflected in the scientific discipline coastal engineering and established by law in the general coastal protection plan. In addition to protecting living environments and economic regions, there is an increasing demand for an ecosystem-friendly approach to coastal protection, which addresses the following pressing questions: What defines a "good coast", where we are able to live and work in a responsible and sustainable manner, in harmony with nature and embedded in the existing cultural landscape?
The three universities will focus on this topic in the collaborative project "Gute Küste Niedersachsen - Reallabore für einen ökosystemstärkenden Küstenschutz an der niedersächsischen Küste" (Good Coast Lower Saxony - Living Laboratories for Coastal Protection in Order to Strengthen Coastal Ecosystems in Lower Saxony). Through an integrated approach, the academics will investigate their research questions by involving both the responsible authorities and the population living near the coast. In "living laboratories", coastal research institutes and local facilities will compile and test course of action and management options for coastal protection activities in order to strengthen the coastal ecosystem. Possible locations along the coast of Lower Saxony and on the islands particularly suitable for establishing living laboratories for coastal protection include exposed dyke areas or land in front of the dykes. In order to establish on-site regulating ecosystem services (wave attenuation, sediment accumulation) and determine their effects, researchers will incorporate elements and systems beneficial to the ecosystem into these areas, such as salt marshes or sea grass beds. The project primarily intends to investigate how coastal protection measures that are robust, multi-functional and in particular beneficial to the ecosystem could work in living laboratories in the long term, as well as to determine how they are taken into account by the responsible authorities with regard to the planning and approval phase while gaining acceptance from the public.
"By including relevant authorities, the public, and leading research facilities, we aim to lay the foundations for gaining acceptance for our research - not only during the planning and implementation phase of additional measures beneficial to the ecosystem, but also in order to generate mutual knowledge and possibly spread the concept outside of Lower Saxony", said spokesperson Prof. Dr.-Ing. Torsten Schlurmann from the Ludwig Franzius Institute of Hydraulic, Estuarine and Coastal Engineering (LuFI) at Leibniz University Hannover. The researchers intend to establish five sub-projects; each sub-project will develop and implement transdisciplinary living laboratories.
Project partners include Leibniz University Hannover (Ludwig Franzius Institute of Hydraulic, Estuarine and Coastal Engineering, Institute of Environmental Planning, Institute of Open Space Planning and Design), University of Oldenburg (Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Ecological Economics Department), and TU Braunschweig (Leichtweiß Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources, Institute of Geoecology). The project will be carried out in close collaboration with other partners, such as Lower Saxony Water Management, the Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation Agency (NLWKN) and the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park.
Note to editors:
For further information, please contact
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Torsten Schlurmann, Ludwig Franzius Institute of Hydraulic, Estuarine and Coastal Engineering (LuFI), Tel. +49 511 762 19021, Email schlurmann@lufi.uni-hannover.de
Prof. Dr. Oliver Zielinski, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg, Tel. +49 442 1944 174, Email oliver.zielinski@uni-oldenburg.de
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Nils Goseberg, Leichtweiß Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources, Department Hydromechanics, Coastal and Ocean Engineering, TU Braunschweig, Tel. +49 531 391 3930, Email n.goseberg@tu-braunschweig.de
