Climate Resilient Coast (CREST)

Description:

To ensure coastal safety, the Flemish government invests in the implementation of the Master Plan for Coastal Safety. At the same time it challenges the combination of new spatial developments and coastal protection. The main protective measure consists in the supply of sand on beaches and the foreshore. Despite the fact that sand supply is a widely used protection technique, the design and the implementation of an efficient and sustainable nourishment is still a big challenge, in particular in relation to climate change uncertainty and related implications. Within this context, CREST aims to anticipate the knowledge that will be needed to ensure a safe and pleasant coast in the nearby future on the basis of five scientific objectives:

• Gain a better understanding of nearshore and onshore physical processes including improved models and the validation of ‘grey’ data about coastal dynamics;
• Gain a better understanding of the flood risks along the coast and the impact of wave overtopping on structures, buildings and behaviour of people inside;
• Determine the resilience of the natural coastal system (dunes and beaches) in relation to storms and wind;
• Validate calculations with today’s state of the art models on the basis of laboratory tests and field measurements in selected pilot areas;
• Define improved climate change scenarios for the Belgian coast.

CREST also aims at improving access to existing data. The results from this project are of immediate use to other researchers and professionals in their field of expertise.

Project information

Lead

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven)

Partners

Flanders Hydraulics Research, Flanders Marine Institute, Ghent University, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Flemish Ministry for Transport and Public Works - Coastal Division, Flemish Ministry for Transport and Public Works - Maritime Access Division, Fides Engineering, International Marine and Dredging Consultants (IMDC).

Source of funding

CREST is part of the Strategic Basic Research (SBO) programme of the Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship