Navigating the politics of Cross-border Conservation of Coastal habitat (C3 )

Estuarine and coastal environments (ECEs) are essential landscapes facing myriad stresses from both natural and anthropogenic sources (Lotze et al., 2006). The intensification of natural stressors and human activities underscores the need for integrated management approaches that transcend boundaries between

ecosystems, disciplines, and knowledge systems (Clark et al., 2022). Potential enhancements to the preservation of ecosystems can arise from the collaboration of different actors, who not only have common interests but agree on common practices, and have other social/economic ties (Kark, et al., 2015). However,

collaboration is highly volatile and can be time-consuming, risky, complex, and costly for all involved (Kark, et al., 2015). Research Objectives Through this PhD research, I will aim to understand: 1. How current approaches to planning coastal habitats in large estuaries in the British Isles create

bottlenecks for effective governance and management, and what are these bottlenecks? 2. How these bottlenecks affect coastal management in the case studies of Solway Firth, Severn Estuary, and Dee Estuary, and what solutions, if any, have been proposed or tried? 3. How policymakers, environmental bodies, local communities, and other stakeholders can collaborate

to develop innovative approaches to coastal conservation?