Coastal resident perceptions of nature-based adaptation options in Nova Scotia

Climate change risks to coastal communities may overwhelm current management strategies. The emergence of nature-based solutions could provide alternative approaches for climate adaptation; however, studies on their public acceptability are limited. This research focuses on the human dimensions of nature-based coastal adaptation solutions. The research sought to understand the kind of environmental changes participants were experiencing in their coastal communities of Nova Scotia and what management responses they observed being taken, if any. Online focus groups were held with coastal property owners in Nova Scotia to understand how they assess coastal risks and four approaches to nature-based coastal adaptation: living shorelines, accommodation, retreat, and dyke realignment to make space for wetland restoration. Results revealed ongoing trust in traditional hard-line approaches, but also interest in knowing more about nature-based options. There was general support for living shorelines, albeit with scepticism; a concern that accommodation is just a “band-aid” approach; resistance to retreat, despite general recognition of its future utility; and a lack of understanding of dyke realignment. The successful implementation of nature-based coastal adaptation approaches will require more evidence of their viability, better options for financing them, and engagement with communities around the best-fit alternatives for them.     

Early agrarian landscapes in Finland

Cadastral maps from the 17th and 18th centuries of villages in southwest Finland and Ostrobothnia have been used in this study to map the variations in land organisation that existed before the first enclosure ( storskiftet ). Settlement structure and land division in particular were found to vary regionally, a fact that can be explained by topographical circumstances but also by the different historical background of the historical provinces. The aim was to distinguish between the cultural influences on the use and ownership of land from Sweden (the west) and Finland (the east) respectively. Through the Swedish colonisation of Finland a feudal social organisation was introduced which affected village organisation all over the investigated area but to a varying degree, resulting in several types of settlements from planned villages with regular strip parcelling to villages developed through piecemeal colonisation and with an unsystematic division of the land.