The Northern Ireland Department of Education and Learning is to spend £1.3 million on a new coastal research centre at the University of Ulster.
The development will enable research into the areas of climate change, maritime archaeology and coastal management, with emphasis on the long-term evolution of coastlines.
Construction of the centre at the college's Coleraine campus began yesterday and is due for completion in May 2003. It will be the leading centre for coastal research in the EU, the college said, and will assist in monitoring the environmental state of the coast.
"Coastal and marine legislation within Europe has already found its way to local government level, where compulsory monitoring is now required. The new centre will be ideally positioned to respond to these monitoring needs," said Dr Andrew Cooper, head of coastal research at the University of Ulster.
Advising on new EU recommendations regarding coastal zone management will be one of the first tasks of the centre, Dr Cooper said.
"The recommendations address the use of coasts in a more integrated way. We will be looking at the physical way waves affect the coast and the social way people use the coast in order to advise government on their implementation."
The centre also plans to create links with coastal communities to help them manage their environment. "In the past, people living adjacent to beaches have felt they have had little say in how their areas are managed and used. The centre will be able to explain the environmental issues affecting their coastline and advise them on the steps they can take to address these issues," Dr Cooper said.
