Exploring the Horizon: Coastal Futures 2024
January 24th and 25th, 2024, was the highly anticipated return of the Coastal Futures Conference, an annual event taking place at The Royal Institution in London. The event stands as a beacon for collaboration and innovation, providing a vital platform for professionals and practitioners who are dedicated to the safeguarding of our coasts and seas.
The roots of Coastal Futures Conferences can be traced back over 3 decades, with its inaugural meeting held in 1994 under the title 'Marine Environmental Management – Review of Events in 1993 and Future Trends.' Over the years, the conference has evolved, but its core mission of examining current issues and foreseeing future trends in coastal and marine management has remained the same.
Acting as a crucial platform for discussion, the Coastal Futures Conferences offer a comprehensive insight into the challenges faced by coastal and marine practitioners, shedding light on the latest developments across various sectors.
Coastal Futures 2024: Exo’s Experience
This year's Coastal Futures 2024 conference showcased an engaging and informative experience for attendees, whether they choose to participate in person or virtually. With over 750 delegates representing 200 organisations, the event was an amalgamation of diverse perspectives and expertise.
Key stakeholders and industry leaders committed to sustainability shared their insights and perspectives during the conference. Notably, we were thrilled to accompany our sister company Exo Engineering who were supporting the event. Operations Manager Will Melhuish took to the stage to deliver a talk on the opportunities for achieving Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) within intertidal environments—an essential discussion in the context of ongoing and future coastal developments.
Unveiling the Future: Coastal Futures' Vision
As attendees we experienced in-depth insights into current issues, learning about the latest developments, and exploring potential future trends. The conference set out a roadmap to the future, highlighting areas of activity that will significantly impact ocean users and coastal communities.
With a broad focus on enabling collaboration among different sectors, Coastal Futures talks were dedicated to addressing critical developments and concerns affecting our coastal environments.
The conference was an excellent experience for the Exo Team, and now having returned we look forward to pushing forward with the ideals highlighted at Coastal Futures into the coming year.