Harms, Wienke (2024) Operationalising Coastal Resilience: Developing Indicators for Assessing Resilience at the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea Coast. Master thesis.
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Abstract
The increasing threat of climate change poses significant risks to coastal regions, necessitating effective resilience strategies. This thesis, titled "Operationalising Coastal Resilience: Developing Indicators for Assessing the Resilience of the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea Coast," addresses the multifaceted challenges faced by this unique socio-ecological area. The primary objective is to operationalize coastal resilience by developing place-based indicators that assess the resilience of the coast. A qualitative research strategy, using an in-depth case study approach, was employed to gain insights into specific resilience processes within their authentic settings. Data were collected through literature reviews, semi-structured interviews with experts, and policy document analysis, ensuring a comprehensive examination of the topic from multiple perspectives. The findings reveal that coastal resilience at the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea coast is influenced by both general ecological characteristics and site-specific socio-economic factors. This underscores the need for tailored resilience strategies that consider local conditions and stakeholder interests. A key contribution of this thesis is the development of resilience indicators that measure dimensions such as physical robustness, adaptability, and transformability of coastal systems. These indicators were created through an iterative process involving stakeholder consultations and expert evaluations. While indicators are invaluable for initial assessments, the complexity of resilience dynamics requires complementing quantitative measures with qualitative methods. This thesis contributes academically by providing a framework for operationalizing coastal resilience through the development of place-based indicators. It emphasizes the importance of tailoring these indicators to the unique ecological and socio-economic characteristics of specific coastal areas, recognizing that broader, generic indicators may fail to capture the nuanced needs of diverse contexts. Future research should focus on refining these indicators and developing approaches to identify and clarify additional indicators that are context-specific, ensuring they are meaningful and effective across a range of socio-economic and ecological settings.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Environmental & Infrastructure Planning |
| Supervisor: | Trell-Zuidema, E.M. and Restemeyer, B. |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Dec 2024 10:20 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Dec 2024 10:20 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4811 |
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