ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES FOR INTEGRATED COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT

The term “Alternative Strategies” refers to an updatable suite of options concerning policies, practices, and data requirements that would facilitate an application of the Systems Approach Framework (SAF) methodology, developed during the SPICOSA EU FP6 [1] Integrated Project. The SPICOSA IP had the goal of developing the SAF for Coastal Zone [2] applications in support of Sustainable Development in Coastal Areas and in the context of ICZM. This objective was accomplished through SAF applications in 18 Study Sites throughout the European Region [3]. In addition to the SAF, the Project provided support for its development (supplementary information), archiving (model library and documentation), and dissemination (training and public outreach).

The “Alternative Strategies” discussed herein represent an essential supplement to expedite and enrich SAF applications, which are designed to simulate an issue in a coastal zone system and provide quantitative and qualitative information on various scenarios concering the resolution of the Issue. The goal Alternative Strategies is to make readily accessable to potential SAF users, information regarding political strategies, technical options, and intelligent monitoring that can support the SAF simulation itself and enrich the quality of the simulation of the Policy Issue and enrich its associated scearions.

As an example, a user starts by indentifying a critical policy issue and/or identifying an Impact in a Coastal Zone. The Alternative-Strategy database will quickly locate the key processes that influence the properties of the system and then suggest the right "set" of tools (political, technical and moinitoring) for the issue. This set can be used for all the four stages of the SAF, i.e. from the initial design phase of Issue/scenario identification until the final evaluation to the ouput phanse for the delivery of results concerning the requested management scenarios.

Alternative Strategies classification

The structure of the Alternative Strategies is centered around the three main categories of infromation support: policy options, technical options and intelligent monitoring. Each of these are briefly described in this article and their contents gathered into a public database available under SPICOSA’s data portal [4].

Policy Options

The Policy Option category consists of the classification, inventory, and assessment in terms of advantages and disadvantages of policy instruments [5] (e.g. instruments of planning, taxes and subsidies, market instruments, etc. .) and related schemes (eg. centralized, decentralized, polycentric approach, etc..) regarding the international framework on integrated management of coastal areas.

Fig. 1 Policy options are crucial in relation to cause-effect connections in the spheres of the Economy, Society and Environment. Depending on their type they can influence these aspects at different levels increasing the long term sustainability.

The reference base for the Policy Option category is based on literature references, acquisition of information, and material produced by global institutions on sustainable development of the territory, and for the implementation of ICZM policies.

Web-resources

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See policy option database tool [6]

Further Readings on Policy Options

Policy instruments for Integrated Coastal Zone Management [7]

Downloadable Readings

Vernier Françoise, Agriculture in coastal areas: environmental issues, impacts and regulation tools [8]

Technical Options

The Technical Options category consists of a collection of information related to technological advancements that can reduce the impacts related to human activities. The goal of Technical Options is to evaluate all technological alternatives that may be considered to increase environmental sustainability, including an innovative set of options that have not yet been integrated into the framework of ICZM as environmentally sustainable technologies ( i.e. renewable energies, bio-remediation,) or new methodologies (i.e. low-impact coastal defense).