Accessible Waters is a research project exploring how people with visual impairment experience, navigate, and relate to blue spaces such as lakes, rivers, and coastal environments. It centres the knowledge and lived experiences of individuals who engage with water in diverse, often under-recognised ways. 

Many blue spaces are celebrated for their health and wellbeing benefits. But who are they really designed for? This project works alongside people with visual impairment to understand what makes these environments feel safe, meaningful, or restrictive – and what changes could support more inclusive, sensory-rich ways of engaging with water. 

Through a series of in-water experiences, shared stories, and creative research methods, the project explores how connection, care, and interdependence shape people’s relationships with watery places. It aims to challenge narrow understandings of accessibility and offer insight into how blue spaces can be reimagined as more inclusive, dynamic environments. 

Fieldwork has now concluded, and analysis is underway. The findings will contribute to a PhD thesis and support ongoing public engagement, academic publication, and collaborative conversations about making blue spaces more inclusive and responsive. 

Accessible Waters is led by Sadie Rockliffe, a PhD researcher at the University of Brighton, supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership, and the University of Brighton Business and Law School. The research draws on approaches from critical disability studies, human geography, and environmental health to rethink access and wellbeing beyond visual or individualistic terms. 

As the project grows, this site will share participant stories, accessible research findings, and ideas for change – offering space for reflection, learning, and connection with others. 

If you’d like to know more, take part, or follow along, we’d love to hear from you.” 

Sadie Rockliffe is a PhD researcher at the University of Brighton, specialising in blue space accessibility, sensory justice, and community wellbeing. Her research is supervised by Dr Catherine Kelly, Dr Mary Geary, and Dr Ben Whitburn, and supported by the Economic and Social Research Council through the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership. 

Sadie brings a background in destination management, community engagement, and event leadership, and has worked closely with local organisations to support access to both natural and heritage environments. She is a trained RNIB Sighted Guide, a regular volunteer with visual impairment charities, and a founding member of the Disability and Culture Research Group. 

Her work has received multiple awards, and she regularly shares her research at national and international conferences, community events, charity forums, and governmental roundtables. She also lectures in tourism and sustainability, with a focus on inclusive design, public health, and place-based wellbeing. 

Outside of her academic work, Sadie enjoys spending time in and around water with her family — a connection shaped by her late father, whose love of the coast helped inspire this research. That personal relationship with blue spaces continues to inform her commitment to creating more caring, inclusive environments for others to enjoy.