Establish a transdisciplinary and cross-sector Community of Practice to share knowledge and best practice and unlock better-informed and improved resilience actions; Co-design researcher, community and practitioner training and guidance to improve partnership working and nurture the next generation of resilience champions; Use a needs-led approach to identify and respond to priority needs using the Flexible Fund to deliver small projects and secondments; Collate key insights, case studies and resources for policymakers and practitioners through a web platform, policy briefs and foresight documents; and Build ongoing practitioner and community-led evaluation and reflection to shape future learning, legacy and funding opportunities. Our activities will be complemented by four projects funded under the main call. These will be integrated within the N+, where we will work to amplify their significance and reach by providing a network for knowledge exchange, support for new collaborative initiatives, and to share findings with local, national and international stakeholders. The novelty of programme lies in our transdisciplinary team, innovative needs-led approach, and long-standing experience working on questions about place, scale and the exchange of knowledge across distinctive social, economic and environmental contexts. Crucially, all our activities are co-created with community stakeholders, policymakers, and UK coastal and marine management sectors, responding to their needs, existing knowledge assets and lived experiences to deliver robust policy impacts and toolkits with application to communities and places worldwide. Alongside co-designed events, workshops, secondments and training, our co-created outputs will include: Digital Engagement Platform; toolkits and cases studies; two foresight documents; two solution-focused reports; high-impact scholarly articles; and evaluation reports. In doing this, COAST-R will pioneer transdisciplinary, place-based and whole-systems approaches for better understanding coastal change, enhancing coastal and marine literacy, and building community resilience in precarious coastal places.

Over the past several years, there has been a growing international recognition that security and risk issues of marine systems such as container line supply chains (CLSCs) need to be reviewed urgently. Serious accidents such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the lock-out of the American West Coast Ports in 2002, the blast on the Madrid commuter trains in 2004 and the blast on the London commuter buses and underground trains in 2005 have shocked the whole international shipping and logistics supply industries and prompted this urgency. CLSCs, with many complex physical and information flows, have not only contributed to economic prosperity but also rendered themselves uniquely vulnerable to many risks ranging from delay of cargo delivery to environmental pollution and from terrorist attacks to damage of economic stability. Security is becoming one of the most important criteria for measuring the performance of the design, control and management of marine systems. The term security may in general be defined as freedom from vulnerability which is an exposure to serious disturbances arising from threats. In this research, risks associated with threats will be referred to as security risks. Whilst conventional hazard-based risk is a combination of the probability of occurrence of an undesirable event and the degree of its possible consequences, security risks are different from hazard-based risks and need to be modelled differently. As a result, security and risk assessment is a process of analysing both threats and hazards in a system and making respective decisions on suitable strategies against the potential vulnerability of the system. Previous research in this and related areas has greatly increased our understanding of vulnerability, risks, threats and hazards. However, few studies have generated appropriate supporting tools for security and risk studies in CLSCs from both the engineering and managerial viewpoints. This project is aimed at developing a security and risk-based framework and also assessment models suitable for marine operations. To achieve this aim, several challenging research questions need to be investigated. First of all, most relationships among different security and risk variables may emerge at a variety of spatial, temporal or functional scales, which might be better represented if each relationship were described at or between the dynamic and interactive levels of detail, rather than treating static and steady scale processes identically. In this project, a novel hybrid reasoning network combining Bayesian networks, fuzzy sets and evidential reasoning, referred to as the ER-RN model, will be developed in order to estimate the occurrence likelihoods of threats and hazards in CLSCs. Secondly, information for security and risk assessment in CLSCs is inherently uncertain, caused by imperfect understanding of the domain of a CLSC, incomplete knowledge about the state of the domain, randomness in the mechanisms governing the behaviour of the domain, or a combination of them. It is therefore a great challenge to handle such uncertain information. In this project, a novel belief rule based (BRB) system approach will be investigated in order to use such uncertain information for estimating risks associated with both threats and hazards by modelling the damage capability, recall difficulty and damage probability of threats as well as the possible consequences of hazards. Thirdly, the assessment of security and risk control measures (SRCMs) requires the simultaneous consideration of multiple criteria such as system risk, the costs of implementing a SRCM and the benefits from reduced risk and cargo transfer delay. In this research, a multiple attribute decision-making method will be developed, which can process various types of information with uncertainty generated from the proposed ER-RN and BRB models. Case studies will be conducted to demonstrate the proposed network, models and analysis methods.

The Government's commitment to increasing offshore and marine renewable energy generation presents significant technological challenges in designing, commissioning and building the infrastructure, connecting offshore generation to onshore usage, and considering where these new developments are best placed, whilst balancing the impact they have upon the environment. In tandem, this commitment presents opportunities to advance UK capabilities in cutting-edge engineering and technologies in pursuit of net zero. Liverpool is home to one of the largest concentrations of offshore wind turbines globally in Liverpool Bay, the second largest tidal range in the UK, some of the largest names of maritime engineering alongside numerous SMEs, and the Port of Liverpool, a Freeport and Investment Zone status. The latest Science and Innovation Audit (2022) highlights Net Zero and Maritime as an emerging regional capability, and is an area in which the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has stated its ambition to grow an innovation cluster. The University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University each host world-class research expertise, environments and facilities relevant to addressing these maritime energy challenges, and have an established, shared track record in collaboration with industrial and civic partners. The Centre for Doctoral Training in Net Zero Maritime Energy Solutions (N0MES CDT) will play a vital role in filling critical skills gaps by delivering 52 highly trained researchers (PGRs), skilled in the identification, understanding, assessment, and solutions-delivery of pressing challenges in maritime energy. N0MES PGRs will pursue new, engineering-centred, interdisciplinary research to address four vital net zero challenges currently facing the North West, the UK and beyond: (a) Energy generation using maritime-based renewable energy (e.g. offshore wind, tidal, wave, floating solar, hydrogen, CCS) (b) Distributing energy from offshore to onshore, including port- and hinterland-side impacts and opportunities (c) Addressing the short- and long-term environmental impacts of offshore and maritime environment renewable energy generation, distribution and storage (d) Decommissioning and lifetime extension of existing energy and facilities The N0MES CDT will empower its graduates to communicate, research and innovate across disciplines, and will develop flexible leaders who can move between projects and disciplines as employer priorities and scientific imperatives evolve.

Along the well-to-wake value chain from upstream processes associated with fuels production and supply, components manufacture, and ships construction to the operation of ports and vessels, the UK domestic and international shipping produced 5.9 Mt CO2eq and 13.8 Mt CO2eq, respectively in 2017, totalling 3.4% of the UK's overall greenhouse gas emissions. The sector contributes significantly to air pollution challenges with emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matters, harming human health and the environment particularly in coastal areas. The annual global market for maritime emission reduction technologies could reach $15 billion by 2050. This provides substantial economic opportunities for the UK. The Department for Transport's Clean Maritime Plan provides a route map for action on infrastructure, economics, regulation, and innovation that covers high technology readiness level (TRL 3-7). There is a genuine opportunity to explore fundamental research and go beyond conventional marine engineering and naval architecture and exploit the UK's world-leading cross-sectoral fundamental research expertise on hydrodynamics, fuels, combustion, electric machines and power electronics, batteries and fuel cells, energy systems, digitization, management, finance, logistics, safety engineering, etc. The proposed UK-MaRes Hub is a multidisciplinary research consortium and will conduct interdisciplinary research focussed on delivering disruptive solutions which have tangible potential to transform existing practice and reach a zero-carbon future by 2050. The challenges faced by UK maritime activity and their solutions are generally common but when deployed locally, they are bespoke due to the specifics of the port, the vessels they support, and the dependencies on their supply chains. Implementation will be heavily dependent on the local community, existing infrastructure, as well as opportunities and constraints related to the supply, distribution, storage and bunkering of alternative fuels, in decarbonising port handling facilities and cold-ironing, with the integration of renewable energy, reducing air pollution, to land-use and increased capacity and capability, and the local development of skills. The types of vessels and the cargoes handled through UK ports varies and are related to several factors, such as geographical location, regional industrial and business activity and wider transport links. Therefore, UK-MaRes Hub aims to feed into a clean maritime strategy that can adapt to place-based challenges and provide targeted technical and socio-economic interventions through a novel Co-innovation Methodology. This will bring together Research Exploration themes/work packages and Responsive Research Fund project activity into focus on port-centric scenarios and assess possibilities to innovate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, 2040 and 2050 timeframes, sharing best practice across the whole maritime ecosystem. A diverse, and inclusive Clean Maritime Network+ will ensure wider dissemination and knowledge take-up to achieve greater impact across UK ports and other maritime activity. The Network+ will have coordinated regional activity in South-West, Southern, London, Yorkshire & Lincolnshire, Midlands, North-West, North-East, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. An already established Clean Maritime Research Partnership has vibrant academic, industrial, and civic stakeholder members from across the UK. UK-MaRes Hub will establish a Clean Maritime Policy Unit to provide expert advice and quantitative evidence to enable rapid decarbonisation of the maritime sector. It will ensure that the UK-MaRes Hub is engaging with policymakers at all stages of the hub activities.

Over the past several years, there has been a growing international recognition that security and risk issues of marine systems such as container line supply chains (CLSCs) need to be reviewed urgently. Serious accidents such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the lock-out of the American West Coast Ports in 2002, the blast on the Madrid commuter trains in 2004 and the blast on the London commuter buses and underground trains in 2005 have shocked the whole international shipping and logistics supply industries and prompted this urgency. CLSCs, with many complex physical and information flows, have not only contributed to economic prosperity but also rendered themselves uniquely vulnerable to many risks ranging from delay of cargo delivery to environmental pollution and from terrorist attacks to damage of economic stability. Security is becoming one of the most important criteria for measuring the performance of the design, control and management of marine systems. The term security may in general be defined as freedom from vulnerability which is an exposure to serious disturbances arising from threats. In this research, risks associated with threats will be referred to as security risks. Whilst conventional hazard-based risk is a combination of the probability of occurrence of an undesirable event and the degree of its possible consequences, security risks are different from hazard-based risks and need to be modelled differently. As a result, security and risk assessment is a process of analysing both threats and hazards in a system and making respective decisions on suitable strategies against the potential vulnerability of the system. Previous research in this and related areas has greatly increased our understanding of vulnerability, risks, threats and hazards. However, few studies have generated appropriate supporting tools for security and risk studies in CLSCs from both the engineering and managerial viewpoints. This project is aimed at developing a security and risk-based framework and also assessment models suitable for marine operations. To achieve this aim, several challenging research questions need to be investigated. First of all, most relationships among different security and risk variables may emerge at a variety of spatial, temporal or functional scales, which might be better represented if each relationship were described at or between the dynamic and interactive levels of detail, rather than treating static and steady scale processes identically. In this project, a novel hybrid reasoning network combining Bayesian networks, fuzzy sets and evidential reasoning, referred to as the ER-RN model, will be developed in order to estimate the occurrence likelihoods of threats and hazards in CLSCs. Secondly, information for security and risk assessment in CLSCs is inherently uncertain, caused by imperfect understanding of the domain of a CLSC, incomplete knowledge about the state of the domain, randomness in the mechanisms governing the behaviour of the domain, or a combination of them. It is therefore a great challenge to handle such uncertain information. In this project, a novel belief rule based (BRB) system approach will be investigated in order to use such uncertain information for estimating risks associated with both threats and hazards by modelling the damage capability, recall difficulty and damage probability of threats as well as the possible consequences of hazards. Thirdly, the assessment of security and risk control measures (SRCMs) requires the simultaneous consideration of multiple criteria such as system risk, the costs of implementing a SRCM and the benefits from reduced risk and cargo transfer delay. In this research, a multiple attribute decision-making method will be developed, which can process various types of information with uncertainty generated from the proposed ER-RN and BRB models. Case studies will be conducted to demonstrate the proposed network, models and analysis methods.