Assessing coastal management case studies around Europe using an indicator based tool

Abstract

Over 350 European Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) 'best practice' case studies are documented in the OURCOAST online public database, to ensure that lessons learned from experiences and practices are shared and improve coastal management practices. However, concrete criteria for 'best practice' are missing and a critical evaluation of the success of these case studies did not take place. We present an indicator-based tool and methodology that allows assessing the progress towards sustainability of ICZM measures. An indicator-based tool was applied to 18 thematically different coastal case studies using two different methods: a fast screening and an analysis in-depth assessment. Both methods used help to identify strengths and weaknesses of ICZM and their contribution to sustainable development. However, indicator scores were highly affected by evaluators' background and perception. The tool is user-friendly and easy to apply, it indicates what progress has made towards sustainability and to which extent targets have been met.

Study of the contribution of sustainability indicators to the development of sustainable coastal zones - a systems approach

“…Tan et al (2018) developed a system dynamics model based on the CLD. However, given the dynamic complexity of SESs, making indicators dynamic is critical (Karnauskaitė et al, 2018).…”

“…Second, since CLD can be a base for the system dynamics modeling, a quantitative approach (Sterman, 2000;Uehara, Nagase & Wakeland, 2015;Cordier et al, 2017;Tan et al, 2018;Uehara, Cordier & Hamaide, 2018), they can be used to quantify the relationships between indicators and other components of SESs as a representation of the system dynamics (Karnauskaitė et al, 2018).…”

“…Since coastal zones include the sea and the surrounding land areas, the management of these zones require covering both areas in an integrated system to capture their dynamic interactions. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) has been adopted as an effective measure to manage coastal zones sustainably (Pickaver, Gilbert & Breton, 2004;Maccarrone et al, 2014;Karnauskaitė et al, 2018).…”

“…Indicators can simplify, quantify, analyze and communicate complex SESs (Singh et al, 2012). In addition, they also help in assessing the progress of management programs (Karnauskaitė et al, 2018) by providing a simple interface to integrate the complex SESs into a set of comparable quantities (Singh et al, 2012). This is an indispensable source of information as it provides an analysis of the overall performance of various departments (e.g., fishery department, environmental conservation department, etc.…”

Beach-Foredune Sediment Budget Response to Sea Level Fluctuation. Curonian Spit, Lithuania

“…However, there are other significant factors that also influence coastal dynamics including the geologic framework [6,7] and sand availability [8][9][10][11][12][13]. It is worth noting that coastal changes on short-term and decadal time scales are relevant to coastal managers and planners [14]. Within a decadal time period, there are other factors besides sea level fluctuation and geologic framework: extreme events [15][16][17][18][19], vegetation cover [20][21][22][23], human activity [24][25][26], and river discharge [27].…”