ABSTRACT
Integrated coastal and ocean management (ICOM) “is a dynamic, multidisciplinary, iterative and participatory process to promote sustainable management of coastal and ocean areas balancing environmental, economic, social, cultural and recreational objectives over the long term” (UNESCO 2006, p. 6). ICOM is a concept and process that has evolved in overlapping stages over the past few decades, encompassing shoreline management, defining the coastal zone, and integrating coastal/shoreline management with the marine environment. Coastal management began on the terrestrial side of the coastal zone, focusing on particular challenges posed by this dynamic environment, such as shoreline erosion, wetland protection, coastal development, and public access (Clark 1995; Cicin-Sain and Knecht 1998; Sorensen 1997; among others). For example, the U.S. approach to coastal zone management was first formalized with the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, which focused more on the management of land use at the shore than on coastal waterrelated issues. In the decades since, efforts to protect and manage the coastal zone in the United States and beyond (e.g., Canada and the United Kingdom) have expanded to include integrated coastal management (ICM), coastal zone management (CZM), integrated coastal zone management (ICZM), and perhaps the broadest approach, ICOM. Canada incorporated ICOM into its
CONTENTS
1.1 The Coastal and Ocean Management Challenge ......................................3 1.1.1 Production, Communication, and Use of Scientific
Information in Policy-Making ........................................................4 1.1.2 The Role of Information at the Science-Policy Interface ..............7
