Document Type
Research Report
Publication Date
8-26-2002
Abstract
The Coastal Zone Canada 2000 Conference occurred in Saint John, New Brunswick from September 17 to 22. All of the 600 registrants received a canvas packet that included four separately bound publications: the final conference program, the tradeshow program, Canadian Synopsis (a table of ICM efforts in Canada), and Baseline 2000.
The Coastal Zone Canada Association organized and administered the Conference as they had done for three previous Canadian based international CZ conferences (Victoria, British Columbia in 1998, Rimouski, Québec in 1996, and Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1994).
Two of the fundamental objectives of the Coastal Zone Canada Association (CZCA) and its Coastal Zone Canada (CZC) Conference Series, are that its meetings must build both on previous events and on multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary, international gatherings that discuss and debate key challenges to integrated coastal management (ICM). The goal is to derive new guidance, tools and motivations to advance its practice.
While the CZCA’s first three international conferences have, to a degree, achieved these two objectives and generated products of some value (i.e. CZC ’94 Call for Action; CZC ’96 Rimouski Declarations; CZC '98 Tool Kit), progress has been constrained by the absence of a baseline that is clear, coherent, well researched, and based on consensus.
The CZCA decided that a baseline paper should be prepared for CZC 2000 to provide an assessment of the existing ‘state of the art’ in the practice of ICM on an international basis. State-of the-art in this context means both "the current stage of development of a practice" as well as "newest or best practices". If this information could be obtained by the project, then a baseline could be established in the year 2000 to enable periodic assessment (such as at biennial conferences) of a number of indicators to determine ICM’s growth, development, success in overcoming challenges, and achievements. Furthermore, the information obtained from Baseline 2000 and the information obtained from the periodic assessments of changes in the ICM’s baseline should improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the practice by providing the abilities to learn from experience, particularly what works, what doesn’t work, and why.
Most of Baseline 2000 (or B2K) is directed at the current stage (or status) of development of ICM as an international practice. Newest or best practices can be derived from three of the organizing frameworks proposed by B2K: 1) issues and model approaches and techniques (Section 4), common challenges to ICM (Section 7), and the index of ICM topics (Section 10).
Recommended Citation
Sorensen, Jens, "Baseline 2000 Background Report: The Status of Integrated Coastal Management as an International Practice (Second Iteration)" (2002). Urban Harbors Institute Publications. 31.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/uhi_pubs/31