Nature-based living shorelines (LSLs) are gaining significant research attention in Florida for their potential in mitigating coastal hazards and enhancing community resilience. However, limited awareness and a lack of confidence among local communities remain key barriers to their broader adoption. Framing LSLs as both innovative coastal infrastructure and valued community amenities, this project aims to better document and communicate the wide-ranging benefits of LSLs—particularly social co-benefits such as aesthetics, recreation, and sense of place that community members often gravitate toward—to foster stakeholder acceptance and support. In close collaboration with end-users in urban planning, environmental management, coastal restoration, and LSL extension and training, the team will: (1) develop a database for publicly accessible LSLs in Tampa Bay; (2) quantify potential social co-benefits of selected LSLs in Tampa Bay and Choctawhatchee Bay; and (3) create a web-based, interactive communication platform to showcase publicly accessible LSLs, share our findings on social co-benefits, and synthesize resources for LSL design, planning, and policy. By generating empirical evidence on the human dimensions of LSLs, this project addresses critical knowledge gaps regarding public perception and social co-benefits. The communication platform, co-designed with diverse project collaborators for knowledge sharing and application, will reach policymakers, coastal managers, engineers, LSL contractors, and community members through the team’s extensive networks, supporting informed decision-making on LSL adoption.
Dr. Jiayang Li (PI, UF); partners from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance.
