Coastal Futures 2025 was held at the Royal Geographical Society in London on 29-30 January 2025. The event was attended by 550 people in person, in addition to online attendees, representing UK and international policy, practitioners, industry and research/academia. From TRANSECTS Professor Tavis Potts and Dr Daryl Burdon attended the event.
The theme of the conference was the Path to 2030. It focused on the multiple challenges facing a variety of 2030 goals in the marine context – from climate and energy to fisheries and coastal communities. Therefore, a very relevant event for the TRANSECTS team and scoping out the contexts and challenges for sustainable marine regions. CF covered a broad range of topics including:
- How do we improve the quality of place-based decision-making?
- Can we meet the 2030 targets whilst growing a sustainable blue economy?
- What insights can we gain from international best practice to help us reach 2030 targets?
- Are we doing enough to understand and promote the value of our seas?
- How will future fishing be balanced with restoration efforts & space for renewable energy? and
- Can we achieve well-managed and restored marine and coastal seascapes by 2030?
I found the several talks relating to a systems approach to the marine environment very interesting and this seems to be very much a new dimension of travel in marine science. There were several papers referring to just transitions in the marine sector, focussing on the challenges of equitable solutions between offshore energy and the fishing industry, notably the paper by Joe Richards from the Blue Marine Foundation on a just transition framework for mobile gear fisheries. Historical dimensions were also included in the event, including Antony Firth from Historic England looking at investing in our maritime inheritance.
My paper of the conference was the amazing work done by the Sea Ranger Service, with Wietse van der Werf outlining the amazing work done in training youth in maritime skills and conservation. We also connected with Professor Briony McDonagh from the University of Hull who oversees the Coast-R network and discussed our progress in TRANSECTS and its relevance to the themes of Coastal Futures. Who knows… maybe we will be onstage in 2026!