Laura Mason
The estuarine lowlands of the River Kent Catchment in Cumbria are undergoing subtle yet important changes as changes in global climate are resulting in locally rising sea levels. The current proposed approach is to allow these lands to steadily submerge and for productive farmland to transition into marshland. Whilst this will be highly beneficial to wetland wildlife it will have negative local impacts on the farming community and further reaching impacts in terms of food security.
This project suggests an alternative approach which looks to maintain landscape productivity and connectivity in the face of rising sea levels while also improving the condition of the local habitats. A key element to this will be connecting the landscape in both physical and virtual worlds so it will not become a forgotten landscape. In this approach the landscape has been envisioned as a fabric into which new infrastructure, energy and productivity is woven.
