Photo: Ocean and Coastal Futures (OCF) Coastal Futures Conference London, 2026
A personal review by Fran Light
The theme of this year’s Coastal Futures Conference in London, “From Ambition to Action,” set the tone immediately. The sector has done the thinking, the planning, and the talking — now it’s time to turn commitments into measurable action.
Throughout both days of the conference, collaborations were announced, commitments declared and initiatives launched, and the general feeling gleaned from both coffee break conversations and panel discussions, was that we were all there, not as passive observers, but as active participants able to make a difference.
In this write up, Fran focuses on the announcements that resonated with her on a personal or professional level; these represent just a tiny fraction of the many topics discussed:
Coastal Adaptation Planning Fund
The first big announcement came from Emma Hardy, Minister for Water and Flooding, who announced during her ministerial address, that £30 million is being set aside for coastal adaptation planning. She explained that this injection of funds was to help local authorities move away from a cycle of endless crisis management, and towards actively preventing coastal erosion and flooding instead. How the funds would be allocated, and how this would work in practice were questions that were left hanging as Emma didn’t stay to answer questions, but these questions were referred to, and pondered, by other speakers and delegates throughout the first day and into the next. (Further information was posted online that day, read more on this at GOV.UK (£30 million boost for coastal communities adapting to eroding shores – GOV.UK)
Creative Coastal Communities Network
I am a big proponent of creative expression, so I leaned in a little bit closer when Kim Wide, CEO of “Take a Part CIO” took to the stage to announce that day’s launch of the “Creative Coastal Communities Network”, a UK-wide, 12 month pilot of a research network framed around socially engaged art practice, and its value within coastal communities. Kim also provided one of my favourite inspirational conference comments:
“People need to love and know the ocean in order to care for it.”
Marine Delivery Route map
I was especially looking forward to the Crown Estate’s exclusive showcase of their Marine Delivery Route map. As OceanWise specialise in marine monitoring and mapping, I was curious to see how the Crown Estate’s vision related to what we do. There was a lot to unpack in this presentation so my summary will just skim the surface of a very complex, and ambitious collaborative project. In line with their vision for a ‘system of systems’, the Crown Estate are developing an interactive digital platform that will show where things are (in the oceans), and where opportunities, both for nature and for manmade projects, such as wind farms may be. It’s early days. The first phase will see a pilot being made available and how the final routemap looks will depend on the feedback the team receive from stakeholders and users, after the pilot’s release.
I’d like to end by thanking the Coastal Futures team for putting on this galvanising and inspiring event, and OceanWise for giving me the opportunity to attend – I learnt so much, and the sessions, especially the panel discussions have given me much food for thought.
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