Description
The course will introduce the concepts, principles, approaches, processes and issues of integrated coastal management (ICM) through a review of ICM history and development within a global context, illustrating the complexity of economic, social and natural system interactions in coastal and marine environments. Country case studies will be presented and discussed. An overview of different management strategies, as well as the meaning of integration in the governing of natural resources, will be presented. Successes and failures of integrated coastal and ocean management will be discussed as well as ICM in the European Union. Students will participate in a three-day field trip where issues from the course will be assessed and discussed from different perspectives.
Assessment
Students' final grade will be based on two large assignments/projects. The first, an individual written assignment, is a comparison of two countries' implementations of ICZM. The second, a group assignment, builds on a real case study. Students will analyse coastal zone resources and address social, economic and environmental considerations and values.
Instructor
Rodrigo Menafra (Montevideo, Uruguay) has a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Marine Biology and Ecology from the Florida Institute of Technology (Melbourne, FL, USA) and a Masters in Marine Management from the Marine Affairs Program at Dalhousie University (Halifax, NS, Canada). He has been involved in Integrated Coastal Management for over eight years, having participated in various interdisciplinary research projects, with an emphasis on coastal policy, protected areas and artisanal fisheries. He has recently acted as both Assistant Coordinator and faculty member in the master's program in Integrated Coastal Management at the University of the Republic of Uruguay, contributing to the development of the program through technical and administrative roles as well as teaching responsibilities. He has participated in projects, studies, consulting and other research activities related to coastal management in Uruguay. Recently, he edited the book "Basis for the conservation and management of the Uruguayan coastal zone", the first comprehensive compilation of coastal research in Uruguay. He currently lives in Halifax, Canada.
Sigríður Ólafsdóttir is the academic director of the new master's program in Coastal and Marine Management at the University Centre of the West Fjords. She holds a master's degree in environmental science from the University of Iceland and did pioneering work on the sustainability of coastal management and utilization in Iceland for her final thesis. She also holds a BS degree in Geology and Geography and has for some years been a teacher of environmental studies at the high school level. Sigríður has much experience in the media sector and worked as a reporter for weather, nature and environmental issues for local television in Iceland. She also holds a professional guiding license and a captain's license for small vessels.
