SURGE - Anticipatory Narratives of Sea Level Rise in the North Sea Region
SURGE investigates how coastal residents anticipate sea level rise and storm surges, and how their concerns, practices, imaginaries, and emotions shape support for, or resistance to, coastal protection and adaptation strategies.
SURGE examines how citizens living along the North Sea coast imagine future coastal change and articulate concerns related to sea level rise. Through ethnographic interviews, online qualitative research, and computational text analysis, the project investigates how anticipatory narratives - rooted in practices, imaginaries, and affects - shape attitudes toward protection, adaptation, or retreat.
Central questions include: How do residents anticipate impacts on their local environment? What futures do they envision for their communities? Which preventive or preparedness solutions do they support or reject?
Kristoffer Albris, Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen
Emilie Munch Gregersen, PhD Fellow, University of Copenhagen
Nikoline Victoria Traun, Student Assistant, University of Copenhagen
Ró Holm Magnadóttir, Research Intern, University of Copenhagen (2026)
Funded by:
Project: SURGE - Anticipatory Narratives of Sea Level Rise in the North Sea Regio
Period: 2025-2029