WP1a Law (CAU-WSI) WP1a aims to understand potential legal and policy barriers regarding sediment management measures in order to develop suggestions for future management scenarios. Potential modification of sediment management strategies, especially with a view to balancing short-term negative and longer-term positive effects, needs to be adapted along and in line with nature conservation management (e.g. Natura2000, Water Framework Directive or Marine Strategy Framework Directive), aiming to minimize human impacts. To address these tensions, a change in policy or administrative practice needs to be developed in coordination with relevant project partners.

WP1b Social Conflict and Social Acceptability (GCF)  From a social science perspective, barriers to implementing sediment management measures often result from social conflicts, where stakeholders or decision-makers pursue conflicting interests. In the case of sand nourishment, tensions often revolve around the distribution of resources such as public funding and sand volumes. Managed realignment is similarly contested, as farmers seek to preserve land, local communities fear reduced protection, and environmental groups advocate ecological benefits. WP1b examines how formal and informal institutions such as laws, policies, norms, and conventions shape the emergence and resolution of these conflicts. Through comparative case studies in Germany and the Netherlands, we investigate the conditions under which cooperation and social acceptance become possible and support more effective sediment management strategies.