The Project responds to the needs for shared knowledge and research into innovative means of protection against coastal erosion and the risks of marine submersion, for adaptation to climate change. It aims to develop the capabilities of managers of the coastal areas of the Channel and the North Sea to understand the way in which the dunes can be restored and consolidated, without resorting to heavy infrastructures.
Cerema is one of the six partners of the ENDURE research project, approved under the Interreg 2 Seas 2014-2020 programme, a European territorial cooperation programme linking the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders).
The program is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), up to 60% of the total budget of the research projects it supports.
The sustainable development of the 2 Seas area is the general objective of the programme, focused on research, knowledge and innovation, for the protection of natural resources and the stimulation of the green economy.
The ENDURE project, lasting 3 years from January 2018, has a total budget of: €2,116,635.
The lead partner of the project is Norfolk County Council (UK).
The project's lines of research include:
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The use of nets to fatten the dunes with the sand brought by the tide;
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Assessment of the role of mussel rearing support pile alignments in erosion reduction or dune fattening;
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A strategy for access to preventive control of damage caused by erosion;
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A mapping tool to compare the two possible modes of dune management, one based on heavy infrastructure and the other on natural hydraulic operation;
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An alert system to identify the dunes most vulnerable to climate change to prevent large-scale damage;
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A tool for evaluating the positive or negative impact of constructions on the dunes;
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Support for local stakeholders in knowledge sharing, training and technical support, application of innovative know-how and achievements developed by the project.
Need for additional research on new cost-effective gentle coastal engineering techniques, such as beach nutrition, beach drainage, fencing and plants for dune stabilisation.
Research on the design, implementation and effects of new solutions in the field to improve the resilience of dunes, using new net technology (demonstrator with an optimal design: number of nets, mesh size, size of the buoy, …). Testing and evaluation of the effects of mussel rearing stations to reduce wave erosion.
WP1: Cerema is responsible for this stage of the Project, which includes the installation of field demonstrators (nets, piles) and topographic and bathymetric monitoring, in particular by drone, on two pilot sites and other sites for comparative study of the initial state and scenarios of trends in ecosystem functioning.
WP2: It also assesses the tools providing information on the state of the dunes and their vulnerability. Comparison with the French state of the art and American rule 540.
WP3: Development of training materials for dune resilience: Cerema is in particular a partner of ONERC (French Observatory for the Effects of Global Warming) for the establishment of a Data Centre on adaptation to climate change, in relation with local authorities.
WP5: Through its communications actions, Cerema participates in the transfer of knowledge on the development of innovative technologies based on the functioning of natural ecosystems.
WP1: Solutions (methods / tools / effects / management) established to improve adaptation to climate change
WP2: Development of 3 cartographic tools for monitoring dune vulnerability: determination of hazard monitoring and alert indices, for use by land managers.
WP3: Two training campaigns for an immediate and lasting impact on the management methods of dune ridges by local stakeholders in the Channel and the North Sea (visits to pilot sites, workshops, technological training, user information).
WP5: Development of links with local authorities involved in monitoring Project results in order to implement them in their region. Use of existing networks to ensure wide dissemination of the Project through regular information.
The Project will enable exchanges with neighbouring countries on best practices in coastline management and adaptation to climate change. Cerema brings its skills in the collection and processing of topographic and bathymetric data (ocean bed relief and depth). Its research action focuses on the development of knowledge on the dynamics of natural phenomena in the maritime and coastal dune environment. The European scale for the study, which is based on experimental sites, allows sharing to understand the quality of field measurements, innovative tools, choices of monitoring indices, analyses, in an operational objective announced at the start of the Project.
- Norfolk County Council (UK)
- Mobiliteit en Openbare Werken (BE)
- Universiteit Gent (BE)
- Centre Permanent d’Initiatives pour l’Environnement (FR)
- Hoogheemraadschap Holland Noorderkwartier (NL)
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