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

该项目旨在共同设计、实施并公开英国沿海社区的地理人口统计分类。人们对沿海社区面临的诸多挑战的认识不断增强，同时“重新发现”了 20 世纪 70 年代市中心的贫困现象。 2021 年首席医疗官年度报告中提供的证据表明，沿海地区的健康状况是英格兰最差的，预期寿命较低，许多重大疾病的发病率较高。 2022 年升级白皮书同样指出，海滨小镇的社区需求最高，但对于在那里长大的人来说，机会却很少。虽然政策注意力开始转向沿海社区的需求，但制定有效（且具有成本效益）的政策解决方案仍存在许多障碍。我们对沿海群落的性质和多样性了解不足；有些面临严峻的挑战，处于“落后”状态，而另一些则表现良好（“领先”）。人们对关键经济、社会、文化、政治和历史因素之间潜在的因果关系、动态（但可修改）关系知之甚少。由于很少有行政区域主要服务于沿海人口，因此有针对性的政策的筹资和实施变得困难。由于大多数关于公共服务的常规数据都是针对洛杉矶、CCG 以及最近的综合护理系统发布的，因此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、表达其需求的政治“声音”以及制定政策反应的组织环境。在此背景下，该项目旨在共同制定与适当粒度数据相关的基于证据和政策导向的沿海社区分类。首先，将利用利益相关者的参与来帮助确定可能区分沿海地区和非沿海地区的关键变量；就技术和方法问题提供建议；并就如何使分类具有相关性、可用性和可更新性提供建议。其次，该项目将整理、汇总和归因小区域层面的广泛经济、社会、人口和行政数据，并利用沿海“旗帜”进行统计分析，以探讨(a)沿海社区的独特属性以及所面临的挑战与其沿海位置和身份在空间上相关的程度，以及(b)背景因素如何影响不同沿海地区的健康、教育、社会流动性和其他社会经济领域的结果。例如，使用哪种数据的聚类方法，是否构建针对不同领域的单一分类或多个分类等，我们将开发沿海社区的分类，并由所有整理、汇总和归因数据的档案以及创建分类中使用的所有代码提供支持。第四，我们将举办一系列利益相关者研讨会，包括为有兴趣在实践中使用分类的学者和政策利益相关者提供“如何”指导和演示。分类将有助于更细致地理解沿海社区的不同特征和需求，以及支撑其多样性的因素。这是制定有效应对沿海社区需求的必要先决条件，包括作为“升级”议程的一部分。这项工作将有助于避免当地研究/干预措施的重复工作，这些研究/干预措施目前需要建立自己的标准、分析单位和证据基础。沿海社区的分类还将促进应用研究的共享学习以及地方政策、战略和干预措施的评估。

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.