Description

This class will explore the complex interrelationships between coastal and marine natural resources and humans and communities. In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition that the marine environment cannot be managed effectively without the cooperation and participation of resource user groups and coastal stakeholders. Co-management and community-based management are two related, yet different approaches wherein cooperation and partnership are paramount and responsibility is shared, formally or informally, between state and user groups and/or communities of place and interest. The focus of this course will be to critically examine the extent to which co-management and other alternative community-based strategies provide a viable approach to marine management. Studies of such efforts from around the world, in different social and cultural contexts, will be critically examined to determine costs and benefits, the opportunities for and barriers to their implementation, and the conditions necessary for the development of sustainable, community-based coastal management systems.

Learning outcomes

• Students will gain a systematic understanding of the most recent knowledge of the complex interrelationships inherent in human use and interaction with coastal and marine natural resources and systems
• Students will be able to accurately define a problem, think about it in a critical manner, assess information at hand and draw inferences about how best to approach its resolution
• Students will be knowledgeable about the complementary and competing interests that influence the design, implementation and outcome of community-based management processes
• Students will strengthen their abilities in aspects of organizational behaviour, facilitation and power-sharing dynamics in collaborative management arrangements.

Assessment

1 group exercise (30%); 1 short paper each, analyzing a community-based case study (40%); 1 presentation to the class (20%); and class participation (10%).

Instructor

Larry Hildebrand is a leading figure in the field of Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management (ICOM). Over the past 30 years, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, he has served as a senior manager with the Canadian federal government, adjunct professor at Dalhousie University, researcher at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, executive board member on several coastal and ocean-oriented NGOs, trainer in over a dozen developing-country capacity-building efforts, author of numerous journal articles and books on ICOM, and program evaluator of CZM programs for the United Nations. Larry brings a broad yet practical perspective to the challenges and opportunities inherent in ICOM. His academic background is in marine biology, environmental studies and coastal zone management.

 

Larry is currently the manager of Sustainable Communities and Ecosystem programs for Environment Canada in Atlantic Canada.

Guest lecturer

Further reading