Coastal governance in North West Europe: An assessment of approaches to the European stocktake

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) necessitates not only an understanding of the coastal environments to be managed but also an understanding of the nature of the governance systems in place. The latter not only vary between individual European Member States but also within States. This paper explores the governance systems in operation and focuses on the approaches taken in completing the ICZM stocktakes and strategies in North West Europe, as required by the European ICZM Recommendation. The paper not only synthesises existing European documentation, but also incorporates some of the key experiences of ICZM from the COREPOINT project and its partners. The paper findings suggest that effective inter-organisational linkages and coordinated efforts are required to deliver ICZM and the European ICZM Recommendation's principles of good governance. However, such aspects are largely non-existent in North West Europe.