Partnerships for East Coast Communities: Interview and Survey Data, 2023

Partnerships for East Coast Communities was a project to determine policy priorities for coastal areas in East Anglia around work, the natural environment and culture and heritage, with a view to leveraging or developing assets or initiatives to reduce coastal health inequalities.

To help determine these priorities, we reviewed: i) relevant scientific papers and policy reports relevant to East Anglia’s coastal economy, heritage and environment; ii) attended nine cultural and business events in coastal districts across Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk; iii) held three workshops with university-based researchers, district councils, businesses, charities and community groups; iv) held three “Open Space” public events in Clacton, Felixstowe and Kings Lynn; v) interviewed informants from regional district councils, business groups, charities and community arts and heritage groups; vi) surveyed members of the public with a web-enabled survey using a mixture of closed and open ended questions; vii) surveyed informants from district councils, business groups, charities and community arts and heritage groups with a web-enabled survey using a mixture of closed and open ended questions. Further information about the project is available under Related Resources.

Data deposited as part of the project include redacted interviews, data from the public surveys and data from the survey of civil society groups.<p>The coastline of the East of England has significant challenges. The East Coast has some of the most deprived communities in the entire UK. The coastal areas of East Anglia are characterised by seasonal and low skill/low pay work in care, tourism, agriculture/fisheries and leisure as well as high pre-Brexit levels of migration from Eastern Europe to service those sectors. The East Anglian coastline is also precarious. The East Anglian coast is subject to adverse effects from
climate change, erosion and consequent loss of housing in some areas. Further, cutting across economic and geographical challenges, there are significant health inequalities in some areas.

The programme will have four interconnecting themes. These are:
1) Improving work inclusively by considering high skill sectors and low wage sectors along the East's coastline. This theme relates to jobs in sectors such as renewables, agriculture, tourism, creatives, and heritage.
2) Developing a sustainable green economy along the East's coastline, focusing on using the Eastern coast's assets for green energy production and the physical and cultural heritage of the Eastern coast.
3) Protecting and renewing the coast - to realise those benefits for jobs, the economy and for the wellbeing of residents of coastal communities.
4) Improving health outcomes along the Eastern coast through better jobs, a better coastal economy and strong coastal communities.

This phase of the research will determine those courses of action that are best suited to coastal communities and the needs and aspirations of their residents across the first three themes, and so address the fourth theme of the research - improving health outcomes. To make those decisions, the research will involve extensive dialogue with communities along the coast, business groups, charities and community groups and local government. This dialogue will be in the form of surveys of residents, visits to community events in coastal communities, conversations with key stakeholders and workshops with residents of coastal communities.</p>