We are delighted to announce the publication of the first output from our MCCIP COCO project: A Blueprint document and a pack of infographic resources to help community groups and local authorities develop dynamic climate adaptive pathways for coastal areas in Wales.
This Blueprint was co-created by MCCIP, the Welsh Coastal Groups Forum and the University of Liverpool, and sets out a 10-step guide to develop and deploy dynamic climate adaptive pathways specifically for Welsh coastal areas. It draws on locations within the Swansea and Carmarthen Bay coastal area in South Wales to ensure varying geographical characteristics and coastal change triggers, as well as different levels of shoreline management intervention are considered nationally. The Blueprint collates information from authoritative sources, including guidance from the UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment and the Coastal Adaptation Programme led by Natural Resources Wales, and is framed within the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act of Wales.
Some coastal sites may be vulnerable to compound hazards such as surges, heavy rainfall and high river discharge, which by acting together or in succession amplify impacts on coastal systems and infrastructure, but most adaptation frameworks consider hazards in isolation. In this Blueprint, we highlight how crucial it is to recognise these compound risks for resilient, realistic adaptation strategies.
The Blueprint places great emphasis on engagement and communication with a strong focus on the context of coastal adaptation in Wales, and it is accompanied by a useful visual summary in English and Welsh language versions.
The next step is for the Welsh Coastal Groups Forum to put the recommendations from the Blueprint into practice as part of their work plans, which are currently being revised following a review by the Welsh Government with input from Forum members. These recommendations will include testing the applicability of the dynamic climate adaptive pathway Blueprint in the three case-study locations within Swansea and Carmarthen Bay, to then refine it for use across the wider Wales. The Forum will also seek to establish a monitoring methodology and a standard process to identify management triggers to help deploy dynamic pathways consistently across Wales. Finally, the Forum also aims to initiate the shift to trigger‑based coastal adaptation by defining clear thresholds, decision points and 'sell‑by dates' for management options, supported by regular review and event‑driven reassessment.
Copies of the Blueprint and the Visual Summary (in English and Welsh language versions) can be downloaded from the links below. Scroll further down to find out more about the COCO Project.
Dynamic Coastal Climate Adaptive Pathway for Wales Blueprint (English) Adobe PDF
Please cite as: MCCIP (2026). Blueprint to develop a Climate Adaptation Pathway for local coastal authorities and coastal groups in Wales. Produced by MCCIP in collaboration with the Welsh Coastal Groups Forum and the University of Liverpool. S. Lincoln, J. Kevern, C. Lyddon, H. Barrow, K.A. Bradley and P. Buckley (eds.), 59pp. DOI: 10.14465/2026.coc2.wap
Visual summary (English & Welsh) Adobe PDF
Please cite as: MCCIP (2026). Visual Summary: Blueprint to develop a Climate Adaptation Pathway for local coastal authorities and coastal groups in Wales. Produced by MCCIP in collaboration with the Welsh Coastal Groups Forum and the University of Liverpool. K.A. Bradley, S. Lincoln, J. Kevern, C. Lyddon, H. Barrow and P. Buckley (eds.), 2pp. DOI: 10.14465/2026.coc3.inf
Climate change risks to coastal communities, and particularly health and wellbeing, have been identified as a major knowledge gap by MCCIP in our reviews of physical, ecosystem and societal impacts of climate change, largely due to the scarcity of published evidence.
An initial rapid validation exercise by MCCIP, research and policy experts confirmed that critical and wide-ranging gaps in our understanding of climate change impacts persist, particularly relating to people’s health and wellbeing.
The validation also highlighted that there are many barriers preventing effective climate adaptation in coastal areas.
The Climate change risks to COastal COmmunities and their health and wellbeing (COCO) Project aims to explore in more detail the threat of climate change to coastal communities and their wellbeing.
The project is developing community-led solutions to some of the barriers blocking current adaptation interventions, contributing to a UK-wide network of experts, practitioners, stakeholder and coastal community groups, and advancing the knowledge base.
MCCIP undertook a major UK-wide stakeholder consultation to gain a deep insight into barriers to climate change adaptation for coastal communities in the UK, and to explore opportunities for positive action. The COCO Consultation Report is available here.
The consultation was shared with a wide range of stakeholders from across the UK, including national and local government and agencies; industry; coastal partnerships; research; utilities; infrastructure and transport; health services; NGOs; tourism; and emergency services.
The consultation revealed a total of 150 individual barrier statements grouped into the broad categories shown below, which shows the complexity of these issues:
- Competing priorities
- Scientific evidence
- Engagement
- Financial constraints
- Mindset
- Government policy and procedure
- Knowledge and skills
- Physical, social and economic constraints
The full list of barrier categories and detailed descriptions can be found in Appendix B of the COCO Consultation Report, here.
During the second part of the consultation, stakeholders structured and prioritised the barriers and proposed options to help overcome the key barriers. A total of 57 options were generated, broadly belonging to the following categories:
- (Improved) knowledge and skills
- (More) integrated approaches
- (Better) public discourse
- (Better targeted) funding opportunities
- (Better targeted) policy, legislation and guidance
- (Climate ready) stakeholder fora
The full list of options can be found in Appendix C of the COCO Consultation Report, here.
COCO is collaborating with climate resilience experts, practitioners and coastal hubs from across the UK, seeking to promote key climate resources and initiatives supporting coastal communities on their journey to becoming more climate resilient.
Some good examples of resources and positive action are:
- Coastal Communities and Seas Together for Resilience, COAST-R Programme, University of Hull
- Climate Cares Centre, Imperial College London
- Coastal Adaptation Programme and the National Habitat Creation Programme, Natural Resources Wales
- Dynamic Coast, Coastal Change Adaptation, Scottish Flood Resilience Forum
- Climate Outreach
- SEPA Flood Maps, Scotland
- EA National Assessment of Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk, England
- mNCEA Socio-Cultural Values of Coastal Areas - East Coast Sense of Place Interactive Map
Working with our MCCIP partners and other collaborators, COCO is helping bridge the gap between science and people by translating climate hazards research into accessible outputs, with coastal community groups in mind.
We are developing sets of coastal adaptation activities across all the UK nations. The outputs from the activity in Wales was published in June 2026 (see the top of this page) and we are currently busy working with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, hoping to complete and publish those activities in the coming months.
