Priorities for coastal research in Western Australia

Risk and resilience in coastal WA

Funding: WA Premier’s Early-to-Mid Career Fellowship

​​Dates: 3 years (2023 - 2027) 

Partnerships: WA Department of Planning, Lands & Heritage, the WA Department of Transport, and many local WA councils.

Project Overview

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Recognising that the frequency and intensity of coastal hazard events is increasing globally, coastal managers are grappling with how they can prioritise their investments in coastal management to ensure protection of important coastal assets, while trying to do so cost-effectively. 

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This research program is delivering a body of work across coastal visioning, community values and hazard management planning. A major focus is developing an economic prioritisation tool that will enable coastal managers to weigh up the benefits and costs of different coastal protection and adaptation projects. It will explicitly integrate not only the financial costs and benefits of those projects, but also the social and environmental ones. Concurrently, a coastal community values database is being developed, and a coastal visionary project has been implemented to better understand local community values.

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For more information on these projects, visit the program website: https://www.resilient-ways.com/program-2 

CEEP Researchers

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A/Prof Abbie Rogers, A/Prof Michael Burton, Dr Matthew Navarro, Dr Alaya Spencer-Cotton, Dr Curtis Rollins

Valuing Australia's surfing resources for sustainable coastal management

​Funding: Australian Research Council's Early Career Industry Fellowship

​Dates: 3 years (2024 - 2027) 

Partnerships: Surfing Western Australia

Project Overview

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This project develops the first comprehensive economic assessment of surfing resources in Australia, with a focus on Western Australia. It aims to quantify the economic, social, and wellbeing benefits associated with surfing ecosystems and integrate these into coastal planning and management frameworks.  The project also examines governance mechanisms for the protection of surf breaks, drawing on national and international case studies. Outcomes will include practical guidelines for recognising and managing surfing resources as valuable coastal assets within policy and planning processes.

CEEP Researchers​​

Dr Ana Manero, Cheryl Day

Waatu Wardan Kaartdijin: communicating Sea Country health and action.

​Funding: Our Marine Parks

​Dates: 3 years (2024 - 2027) 

Partnerships: 6 saltwater Bibbulmun Noongar groups in WA’s South West, including Traditional Owners, Zac Webb from the Undalup Association and Karri Karrak Aboriginal Corporation, Noel Morich from the Whadjuk Aboriginal Corporation, and Doc Reynolds from Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation. 

Project Overview

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This project will create a collaboration of the six saltwater Bibbulmun Noongar and Yorga peoples of the south-west of Western Australia (represented by six Aboriginal Body Corporates) and the University of Western Australia (UWA), to co-create a framework and tool to understand and share knowledge, with cultural guidance, of Sea Country health and pressures across AMPs and adjacent waters. This project aims to produce cultural guided priorities for collaboration on Sea Country, facilitate cultural exchange and knowledge sharing between saltwater Bibbulmun Noongar and Yorga peoples and provide a platform for future collaborations with Parks Australia and other management agencies.

CEEP Researchers​​

Dr Matthew Navarro

A New Vision for Coastal Resilience: Engaging Communities through Art to Design a Transformative Future

​Funding: Better Oceans Program

​Dates: 3 years (2024 - 2026) 

Partnerships: Oceans Institute, UWA School of Design, 

Project Overview

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This multidisciplinary project is exploring new methods to engage with coastal communities to envision innovative solutions for a more resilient coastal future.  Coastal Communities will be encouraged to express their desired future using arts-based approaches, including photography, paper collage or textile creation. The artworks will be coupled with the team’s knowledge of coastal processes, policy and economics to create a design brief, that UWA students in Landscape Architecture will use to generate designs.

The team has explored the viability of using this novel, interdisciplinary approach to generate community visions that could be used as decision support for coastal adaptation, and to help in overcoming the bias toward short-term coastal protection measures that can be reinforced through traditional methods for engagement and decision making.

CEEP Researchers​​

A/Prof Natasha Pauli, A/Prof Abbie Rogers, Dr Carmen Elrick-Barr