Catherine Meur-Ferec

Coastal Risks in France: An Integrated Method for Evaluating Vulnerability

Abstract A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the humanities and social sciences, including geographers, sociologists, and economists, worked together to develop a tool for evaluating coastal zone vulnerability. The results of this collaboration are presented in this article. Clearly, the vulnerability of the coastal zone is exacerbated by the combination of increasing socioeconomic stakes and high-level natural risks that come together in this limited geographical area. Whereas natural dynamics make the shoreline intrinsically mobile, with, in most cases, a tendency to drift inland, the evolving human activity in this zone adheres to a contrary logic; it progresses toward the sea, often working to define the coastline permanently through seawalls and jetties, for example. This highly developed coastal area is today at risk, the result of telescoping natural and anthropogenic forces. Given the risk, the notion of sustainable coastal development within the framework of integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) needs to be considered. If truth be told, the socioeconomic breaking point has apparently already been reached at several sites, where the cost of defending the coastline sometimes exceeds both the value of the property threatened and the financial means of the various local authorities, particularly the coastal communities. Certain imminent dangers have forced municipal governments to take emergency measures and the national government to resort to expropriation. Evaluating the risks of erosion and submersion thus appears to be an inevitable part of any forward-looking, strategic approach to coastal zone management. The method presented in this paper permits coastline vulnerability to erosion and submersion to be analyzed and evaluated from several different angles: the exposure to risk, which concentrates on the hazards and the stakes; the management of risk, which seeks to minimize risk through public policies of prevention and restoration; the remembrance of risk, which works to learn from past hazardous events; and the perception of risk, which focuses on how the different actors and users perceive the diverse risks. From these four approaches to risk analysis come five factors—hazards, stakes, management, events, and perceptions. Each one is analyzed and evaluated on a separate grid, facilitating the development of vulnerability indicators from detailed lists of descriptors. Elaborated in collaboration with risk managers and local authorities (elected officials), these grids are designed to become a decision support tool within the ICZM framework. Undertaken as part of the French National Coastal Environment Program, this research seeks to promote coastal risk management within a more integrated coastal zone management approach.

Second-home owners and sea-level rise: the case of the Languedoc-Roussillon region (France)

Municipalities of the Languedoc-Roussillon region (South-eastern France) are highly vulnerable to climate-change-induced sea-level rise (SLR) due to their low altitude and the great attractiveness of the region for tourism. This attractiveness has resulted in a very significant development of second homes, which represent half of the housing stock and three quarters of the total capacity for tourism hospitality. In the context of climate change adaptation measures related to SLR, it is imperative to consider the perceptions of second-home owners and their place in local governance arrangements. Scientists advocate the implementation of managed retreat policies to reduce vulnerability by reducing the exposure of buildings, but both the social acceptability and the economic feasibility of these policies are very low. We assume that second-home owners have different perceptions of the risk of inundation and are less involved in the governance mechanisms. It is very difficult to mobilise a large number of owners of small flats who are less concerned with, and less likely to contribute to, policy development, due to their less frequent presence. We studied these issues through a survey in three municipalities, based on a sample of 318 residents and 163 second-home owners faced with inundation risk. We observed a lower sensitivity to risk and a stronger attachment to homes on the part of second-home owners (compared to residents). We also discuss, in terms of equity and efficiency, the impact of their low level of engagement in governance mechanisms.

Coastal hazards mapping: which obstacles prevent the stakeholders from reaching a consensus?

The development of risks prevention plans frequently causes lively debates between state services (which conduct risks prevention plans and prior hazards studies) and relevant territorial authorities. The development of coastal risks prevention plans, identified as priorities after Xynthia storm in 2010, also faced hard difficulties. Debates mostly concerned coastal hazards mapping process, realized before the plans which strongly depend of them. A questionnaire survey of state services focuses on around sixty coastal hazards studies, concerning coastal flooding, coastline recession and sand dunes migration. The results define territories characteristics (current issues in territory and future territorial development), technical studies characteristics, project management and dialogue process between stakeholders. Chi-square tests of independence highlight major causes to encountered difficulties during dialogue process about coastal hazards mapping process. Current issues in territory don’t generate difficulties. However, territories with a high development and where prevention plans could bring constraints are places of conflicts about coastal hazards maps. Encountered difficulties during hazards mapping participatory process is also correlated to the complexity level of studies

Living in an “At Risk” Environment: The Example of “Costal Risks”

In Western societies, risk has permeated our daily lives. Manifestations of risk are broad and innumerable, affecting daily activities or more exceptional activities. In this chapter, we will discuss the damaging and socially constructed nature of risks, construed as a danger that individuals seek to avoid. We will present the work carried out within the framework of an interdisciplinary approach in psychology and geography. This work focuses more specifically on the issue of so-called “natural” risks. The term “natural” is used to describe risks associated with hazards considered to be of a natural origin. Therefore, this chapter will define the risk and then will develop the main theoretical approaches used in social and environmental psychology to understand them. Then, we will present an example of natural risk: coastal risks (marine erosion and submersion). This chapter, aimed at studying the quality of life, will then lead to the final concluding part in which we discuss the interest of a comprehensive approach to the study of complex phenomena.