ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about governance arrangements related to coastal resources in Nova Scotia, and explains the transformation of governance thinking among civil society organisations dealing with coastal issues. This is explored in two ways. First, it examines the formation of a broad provincial network of non-governmental organisations, Coastal Coalition of Nova Scotia (CCNS), as a response to a 'broken' system of coastal governance, and explores its role in providing a mechanism to influence provincial coastal strategy development. Second, the evolution in thinking on coastal governance is addressed through three case studies. These reflect the transformation of civil society's attention to coastal governance from (1) local groups working alone to stop undesired development in their own community; to (2) larger-scale mobilisation to ensure that new development is in keeping with community values and maintains and/or protects coastal functions and uses; to (3) emergence of community groups with integrated approaches to tackling governance challenges, which create and begin to implement new institutions.
