Culture-led social cohesion on Europe's margins
Europe’s coastal communities are often described as beautiful, but many are divided and overlooked. The University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures, and the Centre for European and International Studies Research are leading a trans-European network that uses the arts and culture to help people reconnect with their coastal places and with each other. If you are under 40, and work in research, culture, heritage, education, media, policy or community organising in the UK, across Europe and even beyond, we’d like you to be part of it. The full list of 41 participating countries is listed here. This initiative is part of a COST Action bid for €690,000 over four years.
The challenge
Many of Europe's coastal towns and cities face a similar set of pressures:
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De-industrialisation and economic decline
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Widening inequalities
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Over-reliance on tourism, or the effects of too much of it
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Social stigma, and a sense of cultural and geographical isolation
Together these pressures can erode community identity and leave people feeling disconnected from decisions about the places they live.
Our approach
Over the anticipated four years of COST Action funding (2027-31) we will bring together researchers, artists, curators, filmmakers, educators, policymakers and community groups across Europe to co-create and reimagine how local people engage with coastal spaces. Our aim is stronger connections, a positive civic identity, and a renewed sense of belonging among diverse community members.
Four working groups: Join one, or more
WG1: Screen Representations of Coastal Communities
How do cinema, television and social media portray coastal life? We’ll build a shared filmography of screen media about the sea and the ocean, and map how coastal communities have been represented and stereotyped. We’ll also look at how they now represent themselves, including in relation to migration, climate change and gentrification.
What’s planned: training schools, film festival programmes showcasing coastal artists, teaching materials for schools, and collaborative filmmaking workshops with communities such as former fishing communities and migrant communities.
WG2: Culture, Tourism, Coastal Communities and the Environment
Tourism can sustain a place or hollow it out. This group explores how heritage, culture and the arts can support more sustainable, resilient coastal futures, working with policymakers and community members on issues from over-tourism to coastal erosion and ocean literacy.
What’s planned: a digital atlas of culture-led regeneration strategies, a policy roadmap for coastal resilience, a community archive of local maritime identity, and an edited volume.
WG3: Co-producing and Accessing Culture
This group brings together social scientists, humanities researchers and art curators to understand how heritage, museums, cultural houses, storytelling and performance can support social cohesion and empowerment. We’ll compare top-down cultural policy with what actually happens on the ground.
What’s planned: a map of art forms and cultural infrastructure in participating coastal communities, a shared research methodology, an artist-and-researcher residency imagining alternative coastal futures, and an itinerant exhibition travelling between coastal localities.
WG4: Civic (Dis)connection and Reconnection
Coastal and island communities can face limited connectivity and distance from decision-making, which puts them at higher risk of civic and digital exclusion. This group looks at inclusion, democratic participation and digital citizenship, with particular attention to older adults, migrants and refugees.
What’s planned: digital citizenship workshops designed for coastal communities, a train-the-trainer programme for teachers and educators, policy co-design roundtables with local authorities and civil society, and a conference with a good-practice guide.
What membership involves
You do not have to make any commitments but by signing up you will have access to all of the events organised by the Working Groups, which include:
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Working Group meetings
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Short-Term Scientific Missions
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Annual workshops and conferences
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Training schools
Who should get involved?
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Academics and early-career researchers in the humanities, social sciences, media, tourism, environment and education
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Cultural organisations, museums, heritage bodies and festivals
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Artists, curators and filmmakers
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Teachers and educators
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Policymakers, local authorities and civil society groups
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Anyone with experience of, or a stake in, coastal communities
You can join more than one Working Group, and we encourage you to pass this on to colleagues, practitioners and organisations who might want to add their names.
Get involved
Email [email protected]
Deadline for expressions of interest: 19th October 2026
About COST Action and further information
This initiative is being developed as a COST Action. COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is an intergovernmental framework that funds interdisciplinary, bottom-up research networks across Europe. COST Actions are open: people can join once a network is running, including those who weren’t involved at the proposal stage.
For more about how COST Actions work and how to take part, visit the official COST website: https://www.cost.eu