Future perspectives on integrated coastal zone management

Abstract

The paper gives a brief overview of the motives for and essential features of integrated coastal zone management and planning (ICZM&P). Challenges facing management and planning are divided into two interrelated groups: problems of substance or content, and problems arising from the organisation and procedures management itself. As regards the former, reference is made to five major areas of concern identified in the NORCOAST Interreg II Project: marginal areas and regional development, large ports and installations, pollution and water quality, mari-culture and fisheries, and coastal defences. The presentation then examines essential problems of sectoral management and the implications of integration. Finally, it challenges the assumption underlying much ICZM research that more knowledge of coastal systems is the key to better management, pointing out that problems related to the management system itself often hinder the application of knowledge that we already possess. Greater attention to the organisation and function of management is advocated.