Visualising Potential Coastal Change: Communicating Results Using Visualisation Techniques

Abstract

A key challenge facing coastal management organisations is the need to effectively communicate the potential risks posed by coastal change and associated adaptation options, particularly if the potential for misunderstanding and conflict is to be avoided (e.g. in cases which are scientifically complex and involve many interested parties). GIS technology is appropriate and widely used by coastal planners and managers; however, its application in decision-making processes is often hampered by the highly technical output that they tend to produce. This can prove particularly difficult for members of the public to interpret. The dynamic, multidimensional and uncertain nature of the coastal zone presents particular challenges to those wishing to communicate possible future coastal change and management options. This chapter describes how the Tyndall Coastal Simulator project has worked to address this challenge, presenting the visualisation methods that have been developed to assist in the communication of the Tyndall Coastal Simulator’s output. These methods range from relatively low-cost landscape visualisation tools underpinned by expert judgement and simple rule-based models, used to communicate managed realignment options, to sophisticated virtual reality systems enabling users to interactively explore future coastal landscapes. The chapter also presents a variety of visualisation approaches explored during the Tyndall Coastal Simulator project that have not only sought to improve the scientific robustness of the visualisations but facilitate the communication of temporal change and uncertainty to end users. Furthermore, the chapter illustrates how the project has also actively developed a number of interactive decision-support tools with embedded visualisation functionality, together with examples of how the research has critically evaluated such tools and visualisations in both applied decision-making and stakeholder engagement processes and experimental studies. Whilst the chapter highlights the potential of such visualisation techniques in coastal management processes, it also discusses the challenges associated with testing such tools in real-world decision-making contexts, particularly the constraints posed by the highly sensitive and emotive issue of managing coastal change. It concludes by arguing that a suite of visualisations may be required by those wishing to communicate coastal change and presents a future research agenda for this work. Crucially, this emphasises the need for further applied and practical testing of visualisation technologies through collaborative research to determine their effectiveness in facilitating improved communication and participatory decision-making as is developed further in Chap. 12.