Sylt is Germany's biggest North Sea island. For now at least. At the end of 2015 a storm flood wiped out a large section of beach and flattened meter-high dunes. There are now fears that the entire southern tip of the island could disappear.

We meet coastal researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute who see the island as an open-air lab for modern coastal protection. The challenges are growing worldwide because of climate change. What can science do to better protect coastal regions? Existing approaches are proving problematic. Concrete and steel are of limited value in landscapes formed by sea and sand.