I do like to be beside the seaside: Understanding how environmental assets influence who and how people engage with the coast and its wellbeing benefi

The UK coastal and marine environment has a rich recreational and cultural value. It facilitates many ways in which people can engage and use it, and studies have shown this has many benefits to people's health and wellbeing. However, these benefits are not shared equally and means different things to different people.

This poses a challenge when managing these environments to promote access for and enhance wellbeing of multiple communities. A further key gap in the literature is whether management decisions influence these experiences. For example, there are unknowns regarding how dependant these benefits are on the extent and condition of natural capital assets such as charismatic species for wildlife watching or coastal intertidal and subtidal habitats with which people might engage.

By taking a transdisciplinary approach, this PhD will apply social science (environmental psychology, recreation/visitor experience studies), health science (applied health) and natural science (natural capital (ecological) assessment) to understand who is engaging recreationally with the UK coastal and marine environment and how (and in contrast, who is not) and what role the different features or assets have on these engagements and experiences.

Working closely with JNCC and Natural England, this PhD will conduct a policy-relevant investigation into how environmental assets influence who engages with the coast, how, and the wellbeing benefits of such engagement. Specifically:

1. Who is recreationally engaging with the UK coastal and marine environment (i.e., demographic profile), how(what activities are they engaging in), and what is the benefit (i.e., health and wellbeing outcomes)? 2. Who is not engaging with the coast? And why?

3. How important is the ecological quality of the environment for these recreational users and non-users? What are the assets that are particularly important to our experiences with the coast (e.g., the benefits we derive)? What is the optimum dose (e.g., if looking at biodiversity, which species are more influential, how many need to be seen)?

4. What types of interventions or management strategies can be put in place to achieve an equitable balance between recreational and cultural benefits and environmental protection?

The PhD will take a mixed-method approach, including quantitative analysis of large datasets to identify who is engaging with the UK coast, in what way, and to what benefit; qualitative interviews to further unpick the key reasons and features why people engage and don't engage with the coast and marine environment; and experimental studies to manipulate and test the role certain environmental features have on people's engagement and experiences.