Coastal Management
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)
Envision has extensive experience of delivering ICZM in a wide variety of countries. ICZM is a complicated planning process which involves many different disciplines as well as participation from numerous groups and organisations. The approach to ICZM cannot be generic, but needs to be tailored to the target coastal area and involved policy and institutions. Envision's experience means that efficient and effective approaches to ICZM can be realised.
Policy and Review
Top-down drivers for coastal management are often policies or recommendations, for example the EU-ICZM Recommendation (2002). Assessing policy and planning to enable delivery at a local or regional scale are key aspects of Envision's work. Envision has experience in assessing implementation of policy, reviewing and making recommendations for enhancing policy, as well as strategic planning to implement policies at a number of coastal locations.
Marine Spatial Planning (MSP)
MSP has the potential to be a robust and effective approach for planning of marine areas, especially when there are conflicts between users and / or uses. The MSP approach involves spatial assessment, but also consultation and participation of a range of involved stakeholders, to permit production of agreed spatial plans. Envision has many years of experience in spatial assessment and stakeholder engagement.
See also Surveys and Mapping - Marine Spatial Planning
Training and Professional Development
One of the barriers to coastal management is often a lack of capacity; this can be either inadequate knowledge or viewing the coast in a highly sectoral way (e.g. fisheries, tourism, conservation). Envision can deliver tailor-made professional development for coastal professionals. Envision has trained and supported coastal practitioners to enhance coastal management in many places in the world, including local authorities in Ireland, water engineers from Bangladesh, and marine institute leaders in Cuba.
Communicating Science
Envision has produced a wide range of outputs from research and consultancy projects designed to communicate and disseminate science and environmental management to the public and policy and decision makers. Drawings of marine life, habitats, processes or data can also be produced to illustrate concepts and enhance the presentation of information.
Training and Professional Development
India developed an ICZM policy, but didn’t have the capacity to implement it in the relevant state agencies. Envision developed and ran a range of innovative capacity development workshops and practical exercises on the coast, focussing on the integration of skills from State officers with single discipline backgrounds. This lead to significant advances in implementation of the ICZM policy across India, and demonstrates Envision’s ability to deliver solutions with long-lasting sustainability that influence policy implementation at a national level.
