Last week I joined the Blue Space in UK Policy stakeholder workshop, hosted by the Environment Agency and Brunel University London.
The meeting brought together a focused group of researchers, practitioners, and policy partners who are actively working to improve how blue spaces are understood, governed, and accessed across the UK. Rivers, seas, lakes, and coastal spaces are increasingly recognised as important for health, wellbeing, and environmental connection. Yet access to these spaces remains deeply uneven.
For many disabled people, including those with sensory impairments, the barriers begin long before reaching the water. Transport, information, confidence, infrastructure, and support all shape what feels possible. These barriers are rarely experienced in isolation. They accumulate.
Across the day we heard insights from colleagues working with organisations including the Environment Agency, Swim England, Paddle UK, and the Beach Access Project. Each contribution highlighted how blue spaces are shaped not only by environmental policy, but by everyday decisions about design, safety, and inclusion.
What felt particularly important was the emphasis on lived experience. Research and policy frameworks matter. But understanding how people actually move through these environments – how they navigate uncertainty, trust, fatigue, weather, and support – is just as critical.
This is something my own research continues to highlight. Access is rarely solved by infrastructure alone. It emerges through relationships, shared knowledge, and the everyday negotiations that make participation possible.
For me, conversations like this matter because they bring together the people who can actually shape change. Researchers, policymakers, charities, and practitioners all have different pieces of the puzzle. When those perspectives meet, the conversation begins to shift.
The day ended with a brilliant LEGO® Serious Play workshop, where we explored barriers and opportunities in blue space policy through collaborative model-building. It was a creative way to think differently about responsibility, inclusion, and what more accessible blue space futures might look like.
What stayed with me most was the sense of momentum in the room.
There is still a great deal of work to do. But it is encouraging to see so many people working together to ensure that blue spaces are not only protected, but accessible to everyone who wants to be in, on, or near the water. 🌊
