News

Community Workshops in Kulhudhuffushi City to Gather Public Input on Resilient East Coast Designs

22 Apr 2026

A series of stakeholder and community workshops have been held in Hdh. Kulhudhuffushi to help guide the development of conceptual designs for the city’s eastern coastline. The workshops form part of the Marine and Coastal Modeling and Detailed Design Study under the Enhancing Climate Resilience and Food Security Project (ECRFSP), implemented by the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy. The study is being carried out by Land and Marine Environmental Resource (LAMER) Group Pvt Ltd as the technical consultancy. 

Since the study commenced in June 2025, extensive field surveys and island-wide numerical modelling have been undertaken. These efforts have led to the preparation of draft concept designs aimed at strengthening the resilience of Kulhudhuffushi’s east coast. A key objective of the study is to identify a combination of infrastructure and nature-based solutions to address flood risks and enhance coastal protection in the area. 

Earlier consultations with key stakeholders, held in September 2025, focused on gathering community perspectives on potential solutions to the challenges faced along the eastern shoreline. Building on this, the recent workshops were designed to capture stakeholder and community feedback on coastal studies, flood hazard maps, and the proposed concept designs. The insights gathered will help refine sustainable, community-supported coastal management approaches. A total of 39 participants took part in these consultation sessions.  

In addition, a dedicated gender session was conducted with 25 female participants, including incoming and outgoing members of the Women’s Development Committee (WDC), as well as representatives and staff of the City Council, to provide orientation on the requirements of the project’s Gender Action Plan (GAP). 

The session highlighted the critical role of women in climate resilience, disaster planning, and food security, while also exploring opportunities to further strengthen their participation and leadership in these areas. 

Through evidence-based discussion and participant reflection, the session reemphasized that women are central to building climate resilience and strengthening food security in the Maldives. It further emphasized the value of continued engagement to ensure women’s meaningful participation throughout the implementation of the project. 

The overarching goal of ECRFSP is to reduce the vulnerability of Maldivian island communities to climate risks by strengthening both institutional and community capacities. Under Output 2 of the project, two key studies are being conducted in Kulhudhuffushi. The Inland Hydrology Modeling and Detailed Design Study focuses on areas prone to pluvial flooding and the island’s mangrove wetlands, while the Marine and Coastal Modeling and Detailed Design Study addresses coastal dynamics and shoreline protection. 

The project is financed through a combination of grants, loans, and technical assistance from the Asian Development Fund, the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific, the Ocean Resilience Coastal Adaptation Trust Fund, and the Government of Maldives.