Championing Coastal Coordination

Overview

Championing Coastal Coordination

The Championing Coastal Coordination (3Cs) initiative is a programme of work that is being led by the Environment Agency with support from Natural England, the Marine Management Organisation and the Association of Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities.

It is a collaboration seeking to enhance and progress coordination for coastal sustainability and resilience in England. This is in recognition of the major challenges that we face in our coastal and estuarine environments.

The coast consists of many highly interconnected landscapes and seascapes, with a diverse mix of ownership and governance arrangements. The management of coastal issues poses a set of complex challenges unlike those inland.

The number and diversity of public and private sector interests is often highest at the coast, with a proportionate increase in the complexity of planning and management in this highly contested space.

Expression of Interest

The 3Cs initiative ran a successful pilot in 2021/2022 and secured funding for an additional 3-year period from 2023-2025.

We will run a competitive selection process again this year (phase 2, May 2023 - March 2024), and invite submissions via Expressions of Interest (EOI) via this form

Funding will be allocated in 3 phases as follows:

• Phase 1 - for the financial year 2022/2023 (January - March 2023)
• Phase 2 - for the financial year 2023/2024 (May 2023 - March 2024)
• Phase 3 - for the financial year 2024/2025 (April 2024 - March 2025)

Note: If your proposed project is planned to run for the duration of the 3C’s initiative time frame (2023-2025), you are encouraged to also submit an outline plan (including funding requirements) for phase 3 (financial year 2024/2025). However, due to the nature of the funding, applications will need to be made every year. Funding for phase 3 (financial year 2023/ 2025) will be made available in April 2024.

Funding allocations

A competitive process will award funding to successful proposals to test the following themes:

Themes

1. Coordination of planning and delivery of locally owned plans

2. Coastal Champions to strengthen capacity and capability

3. Restoration and recovery of natural habitats

Project proposals will need to show how they contribute to collaborative advantage by working across public, private and civil society sectors. In particular, proposals will need to include involvement of local environmental Non-Governmental Organisations, local planning authorities and coastal groups to co-develop their ideas and to improve strategic alignment of local planning and delivery.

Overarching Requirements

Coordinating planning and delivery of locally owned plans and place-based initiatives:

• Projects to be led by an environmental charity or not for profit organisation and involving other stakeholders, including the Environment Agency if appropriate.
• Demonstrate collaboration between civil society and the public sector as a minimum and outline how you plan to engage the private sector with a view to securing private investment
• Deliver exemplar locally led initiatives, for example regional restoration and monitoring plans or local application of natural capital approaches, to set the standard for collaborative place-based projects   

Coastal champions to strengthen capacity and capability in local stewardship:

• Demonstrate how you will develop a wider understanding of the land-sea interface and the impacts of the freshwater/terrestrial component upon the estuarine and coastal environment through the development of coastal champions

Restoration and recovery of natural habitats:

Encompass one or more of the following elements:

• Active or passive interventions that will restore the estuarine and coastal environment, and align with the ambition of the Restoring Meadows, Marsh and Reef initiative.  As a minimum, determine; locality, efficacy, cost-benefit, potential funding sources and mechanisms (including private investment) and the stakeholders required to ensure successful delivery for each intervention
• Improved quantitative understanding of pressures impacting the estuarine and coastal environments, e.g., prediction of pollutant loads
• Improve quantitative understanding of the status of the estuarine and coastal environment, e.g., through a focus upon habitat, water quality or biota
• Implement one or more designed interventions including those addressing pollution control, climate resilience and sequestration of carbon
• Application of natural capital approaches in the development of regional restoration and monitoring plans for our estuaries and coasts to prioritise areas of restoration potential

Full details and application forms are available within the attached documents. If you have any questions, please contact us on the email address below.

Championing Coastal Coordination EOI