Public perceptions of nature-based coastal solutions in the UK

Coastal scientists are increasingly advocating for nature-based coastal solutions (NBCS) to ensure long-term coastal sustainability. Implementing NBCS will change coastal landscapes, necessitating consultation with the wider public as such changes directly affect the socio-cultural values of coastal zone residents and users. We, therefore, investigate public willingness to support, preferences for, and perceived effectiveness of coastal management solutions, nature-based and otherwise, focusing on the UK as a case study. We do this through an online survey of >500 UK residents, capturing their demographics, place of residence, and coastal management perceptions. We apply inductive coding, statistical, and geospatial techniques to analyse our survey data. While we find consensus on the need for coastal management, there are divergent coastal management preferences and perceptions: NBCS are most preferred while hard defences are considered most effective. We find that people with coastal management and/or engineering experience are more convinced by NBCS effectiveness, while coastal residents believe in hard defences. Although NBCS may have several environmental benefits (e.g., coastal protection, carbon sequestration, greater biodiversity), we find that public knowledge on their likely effectiveness is limited. Therefore, if NBCS is deemed to be the way forward for coastal sustainability, more local stakeholder engagement on NBCS will be needed, potentially through systems mapping, in order to facilitate more robust and inclusive coastal management policies.