Critical Social Science Perspectives on Coastal Erosion for Transformative Adaptation

Veranstaltungsart
International Workshop

Ort / Datum
Kiel Marine Science Campus, 19.11.2025 bis 21.11.2025

Kiel University (CAU), German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)

Coastal erosion is not merely a physical process, but a deeply socio-political and ecological phenomenon that is gaining urgency in the context of climate change. Focusing on critical social science dimensions of coastal erosion and adaptation, this workshop brings together different perspectives from Human Geography, and Science and Technology Studies (STS), Social Anthropology to examine coastal protection infrastructures, geosocial dynamics, and forms of transformative adaptation. Through this workshop we aim to facilitate an open dialogue and bring together various researchers from the social sciences to explore political implications, methodological approaches and conceptual lenses in the context of coastal erosion and infrastructure for coastal protection.

Central to our discussions is the understanding that morphological processes, such as sediment movement, are not only natural events but are entangled with social relations and political imaginaries. We will explore how certain adaptation strategies may lead to maladaptation, and how risk governance and governmentalities of risk shape and reflect broader power structures. Comparative case studies offer insight into how erosion, protection, and governance are configured in diverse local contexts. We are interested in comparing different aspects, experiences and regions for a fruitful learning between each other with the prospect to build future collaboration in a rather underexposed field of research. This workshop could hence lay the ground for mapping the field in connection with other research strains.

Hinweis

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