ABSTRACT
Experts have recognized for decades that the complexity of coastal systems-involving land and sea effects, multiple affected industries, and multiple regulatory jurisdictions-necessitates integrated coastal management (ICM). (These challenges are explored in detail in Mercer Clarke 2010.) The need for integration requires that knowledge of coastal systems must not only be generated, but also be incorporated sufficiently in decisions by resource users, resource managers, and policy makers. In light of the highly polarized opinion camps on coastal conservation issues, reliance on overly simplistic information gathering and interpretation, especially when it leads to confirming existing narrowness and biases, creates a significant barrier to leaders who want to ensure that stakeholders have adequate knowledge about complex issues. Therefore, it is desirable for such information providers to induce stakeholders to engage in more active, systematic information seeking, as opposed to rudimentary information acquisition-or not seeking relevant information at all.
