Professor Helene Burningham and her team were applying for a grant for this community-based project ‘Co-producing Coastal Knowledge’, and asked the DEP to show its support for this proposal.
The Deben Estuary Partnership (‘DEP’) is delighted to support this important project because we believe it will bring increased emphasis and attention to the valuable community science work that Professor Burningham and her enthusiastic teams of local volunteers have been doing around the Deben estuary.
As we revise and update the existing Estuary Plan, we recognise and appreciate the value that our communities bring to the estuary, both in terms of participatory action but also in data generation and knowledge growth. The DEP has been actively supporting the Deben Marine Centre (where much of our community science data and information is currently gathered and shared) since its opening three years ago, but we are keen to expand this knowledge and understanding to the broader community. In particular, we want to demonstrate how local but long-term measurement and monitoring data can not only be delivered through community projects, but also how an improved understanding of the science can lead to better, more informed decision making.
Click here to read our letter of support