Broadcaster, author, explorer and geographer Nicholas Crane will be speaking on the challenges facing Suffolk’s coastline at a conference in the county next month.

The presenter of TV’s Map Man, Town, Great British Journeys and the BAFTA-winning Coast, will be taking part in the Coast and Estuaries Conference 2018, whose attendees include more than 55 students considering careers on the coast.

As a recent past president of the Royal Geographic Society, Mr Crane is keen to encourage students to consider subjects which will support a career working on the coast, including geography.

He said: “I am very excited to be speaking at this year’s conference. In particular, I am delighted that the delegates include so many young people looking at a career in managing our ever-changing coastline.

“The future of our coast in the hands of the next generation and we need to encourage and celebrate subjects such as geography and all related sciences.”

Mr Crane, who grew up in Norfolk, has an intimate knowledge of the coast and its evolution. This is reflected in his writing, including books such as Coast: Our Island Nation and The Making of the British Landscape: From Ice Age to Present.

He will be speaking as part of the afternoon programme at the annual Suffolk Coastal Forum in Ipswich on Friday, October 12, about his work on BBC Two’s Coast and the changing coastline.

The conference marks the 65th anniversary of the 1953 great floods and five years since the 2013 east coast tidal surge.

The morning’ programme will begin with a key note speech from John Curtin, executive director of Flood and Coastal Risk Management for the Environment Agency.

Mr Curtin, who joined the Environment Agency when it was formed in 1996, has held a variety of strategic and operational roles and during major incidents he supports the national coordination of the Environment Agency’s response and their input into COBR.

This was the role he played through the winter of 2013/14 and 2015/16 as the UK faced widespread flooding caused by the largest coastal surge in a generation, the wettest winter in 250 years and the wettest month on record in December 2015.

Mr Curtin said: “I’m delighted to be speaking at the conference and at such a pivotal time for coastal and flood management. The next year will see us develop a national 50 year coast and flood strategy – I want us all to look back on 2018 as the year, we, as a nation began to take climate change seriously.”

The conference audience is widespread and attracts people from coastal and estuarine communities as well as businesses, students and those who work on the coast. It is free to attend but that is only made possible by the many conference sponsors and supporters. Main conference sponsor for the third year is national contractor Balfour Beatty.

The conference takes place at Wherstead Park Conference Centre, from 9.30 am to 4pm, with lunch provided. Places are still available but limited – to book email Alysha.stockman@eastsuffolk.gov.uk