Aakash Patel

Profile

PhD Project Title: A line in the sand: Towards a new framework for sustainable coastal communities

Research interests: Climate change, adaptation, policy, community engagement, nature-based solutions.

PhD Project: the UK’s official advisor on climate change – the Committee on Climate Change – has described the environmental and socioeconomic issues facing the UK’s shorelines as a “coastal time bomb”. Whilst these issues are well-known, current government policies and actions are not adequate to manage these rapidly increasing coastal climate change risks. Indeed, the Committee on Climate Change assesses these policies and actions every two years, and they consistently find that the growth of the risks is greater than the potential of new and existing policies to manage those risks. There is a significant “adaptation gap”. This project will synthesise previous examinations of coastal climate change risks and policy responses, and then develop new and innovative responses based on stakeholder engagement activities.

Academic background: BA Economics (Michigan State University), MSc Accounting (Grand Valley State University), MSc Environmental Impact Assessment & Management (University of Manchester).

Supervisors: Dr Andrew Russell, Dr James Porter (King’s College), Dr Kate Spencer.

Funding: London Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (LISS DTP).

Professional Memberships: Royal Geographical Society – Associate Fellow

Research