Coastal Flooding, Uncertainty and Climate Change: Science as a Solution to (mis) Perceptions? A Qualitative Enquiry in Three Coastal European Settings

This paper contributes to the understanding of the interface between risk perception and climate change risk mitigation in coastal areas. In particular, we analyse the role of science-based knowledge and the so called “knowledge gap” in coastal stakeholders' verbalized perceptions of coastal risk. We use a qualitative approach to analyse of a corpus of 29 interviews conducted in three coastal European settings: Santander Bay (Spain), the Gironde Estuary (France), and Cesenatico (Italy). This analysis of stakeholders' perceptions of flood risk shows: (i) the science-based understanding of flooding as a probabilistic process is not always present and has little impact on the stated perceptions; and (ii) stakeholders and society as a whole frame risk mostly through values and norms. Given these findings, an increase in science-based knowledge within the world of coastal risk governance under climate change would contribute to safer coasts, provided that the production of science-based knowledge takes into account stakeholder values through a proactive dialogue with stakeholders.