“One Foot in the Sea”: A Community-Focused Exhibition on Adaptation, Identity and Coastal Change in Borth, Wales

In this paper, we explore how coastal communities, often portrayed through narratives of risk, socioeconomic decline and displacement, might instead be represented in ways that foreground local identity, resilience and everyday lived experience. Drawing on a community-focused exhibition held in the village of Borth, West Wales, we examine how residents experience, remember and adapt to life on the shifting shoreline. Situated at the frontline of climate change and sea level rise, Borth has frequently been framed by the media and policymakers as a place of vulnerability. Yet interviews and community contributions to the exhibition revealed more complex local perspectives, shaped by a strong sense of identity rooted in Borth’s maritime past, personal connections to the power of the sea, and creative expression at the shoreline. The collaboratively developed exhibition – featuring photographs, objects and local stories – served both as a record of coastal life and as a space for discussion and reflection. By highlighting their long-standing relationships with the sea, residents sought to challenge a sole focus on problem-related narratives, instead emphasising the diversity, complexity and richness of coastal experience. We argue for the value of community-centred, arts-informed approaches in coastal research and adaptation planning, showing how they can promote dialogue, affirm local knowledge, and better support communities navigating environmental change.