The European Portal for ICZM

Through OURCOAST, the European Commission aims to ensure that lessons learned from the coastal management experiences and practices can be shared and are made accessible to those who are seeking sustainable solutions to their coastal management practices.

OURCOAST focuses in particular on adaptation to risks and the impacts of climate change, information and communication systems, planning and land management instruments, and institutional coordination mechanisms.

The main final product of OURCOAST is the ICZM Database – a comprehensive compilation of hundreds of case study summaries that reflect successful examples of ICZM tools applied throughout Europe. A multi lingual website hosts the ICZM database and provides navigation and information about OURCOAST in ten European languages.

This has be done and complemented by a series of other activities, together with these of public interest for the implementation of ICZM in Europe. These include:

• Collection, description and evaluation of a minimum of 350 ICZM case studies
• Comparative analysis of ICZM experiences leading to an overview of the state-of-the-art by theme and typical success and fail factors
• Review of most relevant EU policies and legislation and their effects for the implementation of coastal zone management and marine planning
• Development and validation of guidance for authorities for future integrated coastal and marine planning and for the design of policies and tools.
• Development of recommendations that can set the implementation agenda of ICZM for the next decade
• Development of a contact list of EU, national, regional, local coastal and marine stakeholders and other interested parties on ICZM implementation
• Organisation of a final stakeholders conference "Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Europa: the way forward"

Project partners

• Consortium led by Arcadis (NL)

Sub-contractor

• Coastal and Maritime Union (EUCC)