Sea Defences Public Lecture
Throughout its history, Portsmouth has been heavily fortified as a defence against invasion. Now it has a new enemy: a destabilised climate, with rapidly rising seas.
To protect Portsmouth, the government has spent £300m on sea defences that have transformed its coast. Neighbouring areas won't be afforded this money and may have to adopt policies such as managed retreat and relocation.
To explore these themes, PCA collaborated with the University of Portsmouth and Coastal Partners to organise a public lecture and tour of Southsea Sea Defences.
The sea defence lecture explored:
The inside story of how the defences were built, from the engineers who oversaw design and construction
Why the defences had to be built, and the uncertainty around how long they will protect us
What places like Hayling and West Wittering will have to do to survive - without the £300m Portsmouth was given
The lecture was on the evening of Wednesday 4th June 2025 in the Eldon Building Lecture Theatre. The panel was made up of:
- Nick Pepin, University of Portsmouth, who spoke about the context of climate change, linking from sea level rise to other regional impacts (such as increasingly intense storms, flooding and heatwaves)
- Alex Prior, Coastal Partners, who talked about how the sea defences were built: history of the area, the engineering challenges, the trade offs in terms of sustainable construction practices etc.
- Samantha Box, also Coastal Partners, who discussed the broader regional coastal management context, including alternative options to reduce coastal flood and erosion risk to people and property by making space for, and working with, nature.
A recording of the lecture can be watched here.
