Discourse and Governance of UK Flooding and Coastal Erosion

Effective governance for flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) is essential to building the UK’s national resilience to the increasing challenge posed by climate change. However, little research has been done on how FCERM and its policy-making circle are conceptualised in the realm of discourse analysis. This paper addresses this research gap by investigating the relationship between discourse and governance of FCERM in England, Wales, and Scotland. The paper gives special attention to inter-institutional conflicts and cooperation, the representation of the public sphere, and fundamentally, the ideology backing the shifts of policies and strategies. The research is looking forward to analysing materials including policy document, parliament debate, media release etc. It is argued that responsibility for tackling flood and coastal erosion is oddly scattered among stakeholders in an overcomplicated system, and there has been a tendency that this responsibility is shifted gradually but legitimately from state to individuals. In conclusion, this research urges to reconnect the concept of risk with deep-seated human values instead of economic interests regarding wider climate and environment issues.