Understanding the research and policy needs of English coastal communities: a new coastal classification

该项目旨在共同设计，实施和公开提供一个地理人口分类的英国沿海communities.Growing认识到面临的许多挑战沿海社区平行的“重新发现”的内城剥夺在20世纪70年代。2021年首席医疗官年度报告中提出的证据显示，沿海地区的健康状况在英格兰最差，预期寿命低，许多主要疾病的发病率高。《2022年拉平白色文件》同样指出，海滨城镇的社区需求水平最高，在那里长大的人的机会也最少。虽然政策注意力开始转向沿海社区的需要，但在制定有效（和具有成本效益）的政策解决办法方面存在一些障碍。我们对沿海社区的性质和多样性了解不足;有些社区面临严重挑战，处于“落后”状态，而另一些社区则表现出色（处于“领先”状态）。人们对关键的经济、社会、文化、政治和历史因素之间潜在的因果、动态（但可以改变的）关系知之甚少。有针对性的政策的供资和执行困难，因为很少有行政区域主要为沿海人口服务。由于大多数关于公共服务的常规数据都是为地方当局、社区合作团体和最近的综合护理系统公布的，沿海社区的具体需求往往没有得到报告。沿海社区缺乏详细说明其需求的证据基础，缺乏表达其需求的政治“声音”，也缺乏制定政策应对措施的组织背景。在此背景下，该项目旨在共同编制一个以证据为基础、以政策为导向的沿海社区分类，并将其与适当的粒度数据联系起来。首先，将利用利益攸关方的参与来帮助确定可能区分沿海和非沿海地区的关键变量;就技术和方法问题提供咨询意见;并就如何使分类具有相关性、可用性和可更新性提出建议。第二，该项目将整理、汇总和归纳小区域一级的各种经济、社会、人口和行政数据，并使用沿海“旗帜”进行统计分析，以探讨（a）沿海社区的独特属性以及所面临的挑战在多大程度上与其沿海位置和特性有空间关联，以及（B）环境因素如何影响不同沿海地区与健康、教育、社会流动性和其他社会经济领域有关的结果。第三，反映利益攸关方的观点，哪种聚类方法使用哪种数据，是构建单个分类还是针对不同领域的多个分类等，我们将制定一个沿海社区的分类，由所有整理、汇总和属性数据的档案支持，沿着创建分类时使用的所有代码。第四，我们会为有兴趣在实践中使用该分类的学者和政策持份者举办一系列工作坊，包括“如何”指引和示范。该分类将有助于更细致地了解沿海社区的不同特点和需求以及支撑其多样性的因果因素。这是对沿海社区的需求制定有效对策的必要前提，包括作为“升级”议程的一部分。这项工作将有助于避免地方研究/干预工作的重复，因为这些研究/干预工作目前需要建立自己的标准、分析单位和证据基础。对沿海社区进行分类也将有助于从应用研究中共同学习，并有助于评价地方政策、战略和干预措施。

This project aims to co-design, implement and make publicly available a geodemographic classification of English coastal communities.Growing awareness of the many challenges facing coastal communities parallels the 're-discovery' of inner-city deprivation in the 1970s. Evidence presented in the 2021 Chief Medical Officer's annual report shows that coastal areas have some of the worst health outcomes in England, with low life expectancy and high rates of many major diseases. The 2022 Levelling up White Paper similarly notes that seaside towns have among the highest levels of community need and poor opportunities for the people who grow up there. While policy attention is starting to be directed towards the needs of coastal communities, there are a number of barriers to developing effective (and cost-effective) policy solutions. We have insufficient knowledge about the nature and diversity of coastal communities; some face serious challenges and are 'lagging', while others are doing very well ('leading'). The potentially causal, dynamic (but modifiable) relationships between key economic, social, cultural, political and historical factors are poorly understood. The funding and implementation of targeted policies are made difficult by the fact that few administrative geographies serve predominately coastal populations. As most routine data on public services are published for LAs, CCGs and, more recently, Integrated Care Systems, the specific needs of coastal communities often go unreported. Coastal communities lack an evidence base detailing their needs, a political 'voice' to articulate their needs, and an organisational context through which to develop policy responses. Against this background, this project aims to co-produce an evidence-based and policy-orientated classification of coastal communities linked to suitably granular data. First, stakeholder engagement will be employed to help identify key variables that may differentiate coastal from non-coastal places; advise on technical and methodological issues; and provide recommendations on how to make the classification relevant, useable and updatable. Second, the project will collate, aggregate and attribute a wide range of economic, social, demographic and administrative data at small area level and, using a coastal 'flag', carry out statistical analyses to explore (a) the distinctive attributes of coastal communities and the extent to which the challenges faced are spacifically related to their coastal location and identity, and (b) the ways in which contextual factors affect outcomes relating to health, education, social mobility and other socio-economic domains in different coastal localities.Third, reflecting stakeholder views on e.g., which clustering methodology using which data, whether to construct a single classification or multiple classifications addressing different domains etc., we will develop a classification of coastal communities, supported by an archive of all collated, aggregated and attributed data, along with all code used in the creation of the classification.Fourth, we will hold a series of stakeholder workshops comprising 'how to' guidance and demonstrations for academics and policy stakeholders who are interested in using the classification in practice.The classification will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the varied characteristics and needs of coastal communities, and of the causal factors underpinning their diversity. This is a necessary precursor to developing an effective response to coastal communities' needs, including as part of the 'levelling up' agenda. The work will help avoid duplication of effort by local studies/interventions which presently need to establish their own criteria, units of analysis and evidence base. A classification of coastal communities will also facilitate shared learning from applied research and the evaluation of local policies, strategies and interventions.