Briefly describe the initiative/ project/service; please include your aims and objectives

Our Future Coast (OFC) is a £6m regional partnership led by Wyre Council and funded through DEFRA’s Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme. Covering 17 sites across the North West—spanning salt marsh, sand dunes, and seagrass restoration—OFC is transforming how the region prepares for coastal change by shifting from high-carbon, hard-engineering solutions to community-codesigned, nature-based solutions (NBS).

The partnership is one of the largest of its kind:

• Local Authorities: Cumberland, Westmorland & Furness, Lancaster City Council, Wyre, Fylde, and Sefton
• NGOs: Wyre Rivers Trust, Lune Rivers Trust, Morecambe Bay Partnership, Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Coastal Wildbelt, Nature North, RSPB
• Academic partners: Lancaster University and Morecambe Bay Curriculum
• National bodies: Environment Agency, Marine Management Organisation, Natural England

Aims and Objectives:

• Deliver a £6m regional NBS programme increasing resilience to flooding, erosion and climate change.
• Restore natural systems—salt marsh, dunes, seagrass—to act as living, low-carbon defences.
• Replace short, transactional consultation with deep codesign, especially in communities historically excluded from RMA conversations.
• Enable regional collaboration, building a shared knowledge base, consistent design approaches and joined-up coastal planning.
• Unlock Shoreline Management Plan policies previously stalled due to limited funding or capacity.
• Establish a Shared Service that continues coastal scheme delivery long after OFC funding ends.
• OFC is demonstrating that large-scale, community-driven NBS can deliver measurable resilience, environmental recovery, cost savings and lasting social value.

What are the key achievements?

Major Delivery Outcomes:

• 200m² of sediment traps installed by volunteers across multiple sites—using BESE biobased potato-starch grids and bespoke devices co-designed with Lancaster University.
• 28 hectares of nutrient-replenishing crops planted to reduce soil run-off, directly benefiting marsh and seagrass establishment.
• Salt marsh and dune regeneration underway, reversing localised erosion through sediment capture and vegetation establishment.

Community Engagement & Skills Development:

• 6,560+ residents engaged face-to-face
• 780+ children learning through OFC curriculum case studies.
• 16+ community learning days and 7 partner training days, building capability in plant ID, NBS fabrication, deployment, monitoring, engagement skills, project management, and consenting in protected areas.
• Heritage and nature-skills workshops such as willow weaving, rope-making and thatching, used to fabricate natural materials for NBS installation.

Programme Expansion & Strengthened Partnership:

• Project expanded from its original scope to new sites including Walney (seagrass) and Sunderland Point, building on success at Hest Bank and Lytham.
• Partnership continues to grow, adding organisations such as Cumbria Wildlife Trust.
• Improved Engagement, Cost Efficiency & Service Quality
• Shift from Decide–Announce–Defend to Engage–Deliberate–Decide significantly lengthened meaningful dialogue, reduced conflict, and delivered better-fit solutions.
• Community fabrication significantly reduces consultancy costs and increases flexibility and responsiveness.
• Shared learning on beneficial use of dredged material is opening up lower-carbon, cost-saving sediment options for future schemes.

Governance & Long-Term Sustainability

• OFC partners are finalising a regional Shared Service for coastal scheme delivery—creating enduring capacity, pooled expertise, shared procurement and consistent standards.
• Strong ties with the Regional Flood & Coastal Committee and North West Coastal Group embed OFC in long-term regional strategy.

How Innovative is your initiative?

Innovation in Materials:

• OFC pioneers regional-scale deployment of biodegradable, low-carbon BESE grids, which are lightweight, modular and suitable for community installation. This reduces carbon, simplifies logistics and accelerates deployment.

Innovation in Community Co-Design:

• The project redefines engagement: residents design, build, install, and monitor interventions. This moves beyond consultation to genuine stewardship, generating better designs, higher acceptance and long-lasting ownership.

Innovation in Governance & Partnership Working:

• The creation of a cross-authority Shared Service is a first for the region in coastal resilience. It provides:
  • a permanent delivery mechanism
  • shared risk management
  • joined-up procurement
  • consistent standards
  • economies of scale
  • retention of trained, experienced teams

Innovation in Education & Skills Integration:

• Live OFC sites are embedded into curriculum learning through the Morecambe Bay Curriculum, turning academic study into real-world climate literacy and creating pathways for future coastal practitioners.

Innovation in Regional Systems Thinking:

• OFC integrates upland, riverine and coastal processes—linking 28 hectares of agricultural improvements with shoreline restoration—demonstrating that coastal resilience requires a catchment-to-coast approach.

What are the key learning points?

• Communities produce better outcomes when they are makers, not consultees. Co-design delivered stronger environmental gains, lower costs and more resilient interventions.
• EDD engagement improves trust, reduces challenge and accelerates delivery. Meaningful early engagement eliminated later redesign and resistance.
• Nature-based solutions scale best with standardised templates and shared training. Partners learned to deliver NBS consistently, even in protected areas.
• Catchment interventions are essential for coastal success. Reducing runoff upstream greatly improves the viability of seagrass and marsh restoration.
• Long-term capability depends on governance, not grant funding. The Shared Service ensures technical, community and delivery capacity will endure.
• Education transforms the culture of resilience. Classroom integration created intergenerational engagement and empowered families to participate.
• Low-carbon materials enhance consent, sustainability and public confidence. BESE grids demonstrate environmentally responsible practice aligned with community values.

Additional Comments

Our Future Coast shows the power of public-public collaboration built on shared purpose, learning and delivery. By uniting biobased innovation, scientific expertise, community skills and deep engagement, it makes nature-based coastal resilience credible, community-owned and sustainable. A new Shared Service embeds this capability long-term, leaving restored habitats, skilled communities and a scalable, replicable delivery model.