Ms Catriona Davidson

My research explores how climate change and coastal transformation are experienced and responded to by communities across Scotland’s diverse coastlines. Using heritage as a lens, I examine what people value about coastal places, how they interpret environmental change, and how these understandings shape community responses and forms of resilience.

The project adopts a comparative case study approach to investigate how different environmental processes, local histories, and cultural contexts influence these responses. By working across contrasting coastal settings, the research considers how place-specific experiences and temporalities shape the ways communities adapt to ongoing uncertainty and loss.

This research contributes to wider efforts to integrate lived experience and cultural values into climate adaptation research and policy. By working closely with communities and combining qualitative insights with environmental data, the project aims to support more place-based, equitable, and socially responsive approaches to managing coastal change.