BEACHACCESS. The “lure of the seaside” under ecological pressure

Beach access between environmental justice and coastal protection

2023 winning project of the "International Networks in HSS - Climate and Environment" programme

Considering sandy beaches as both desirable social spaces and vulnerable living ecosystems, this network examines the conflicts over appropriation and use to which they are subject in the context of climate change and sea-level rise. Starting from the tension between the demand for public access to the coastline as a recreational “common good” on the one hand, and the imperative to protect it as a “natural habitat” on the other, the network aims to shed light on the political and scientific issues, environmental disturbances and social conflicts raised by coastal squeeze. By analysing local configurations in Brazil, the United States and France, on three maritime fronts (Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean), we use a comparative approach, both theoretical and practical, to discuss the hypothesis of a dual global movement of (coastal) enclosure and (managed) retreat.