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

该项目旨在共同设计、实施并向公众提供英国沿海社区的地理人口分类。人们越来越多地意识到沿海社区面临的许多挑战，这与20世纪70年代重新发现市中心的贫困状况类似。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是英国最差的，预期寿命低，许多重大疾病的发病率高。《2022年整顿白皮书》同样指出，海滨小镇的社区需求水平最高，但对在那里长大的人来说，机会很少。虽然政策注意力开始转向沿海社区的需要，但在制定有效(和成本效益高)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；一些社区面临严峻挑战，处于“落后”状态，而另一些社区则做得很好(“领先”)。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。由于很少有行政区域主要服务于沿海人口，因此难以为有针对性的政策提供资金和执行这些政策。由于关于公共服务的大多数常规数据是针对LAS、CCGs以及最近的综合保健系统公布的，沿海社区的具体需求往往不被报告。沿海社区缺乏详细描述其需求的证据基础，缺乏阐明其需求的政治“声音”，也缺乏制定政策回应的组织背景。在此背景下，该项目的目的是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，并将其与适当的细粒度数据联系起来。首先，将利用利益攸关方的参与，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；并就如何使分类相关、可用和可更新提出建议。第二，该项目将在小区域一级整理、汇总各种经济、社会、人口和行政数据，并利用沿海“旗帜”进行统计分析，以探索(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在空间上相关，(B)背景因素如何影响与不同沿海地区的卫生、教育、社会流动性和其他社会经济领域有关的成果。我们将制定沿海社区的分类，以所有整理、汇总和归类的数据以及创建分类时使用的所有代码为支持。第四，我们将为有兴趣在实践中使用分类的学者和政策利益攸关方举办一系列利益相关者研讨会，包括如何指导和演示。分类将有助于更细致入微地了解沿海社区的不同特征和需求，以及支撑其多样性的原因。这是制定有效应对沿海社区需求的必要先兆，包括作为“平整”议程的一部分。这项工作将有助于避免目前需要建立自己的标准、分析单位和证据库的地方研究/干预工作的重复。沿海社区的分类还将有助于分享从应用研究中学习和评价当地政策、战略和干预措施的经验。

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.