National and international efforts at integrated coastal management: Definitions, achievements, and lessons

Integrated coastal management (ICM) is a global practice involving approximately 90 coastal nations and semisovereign states which have been engaged in at least 180 programs, projects, or feasibility studies. Despite the continual growth of ICM over the past three decades, relatively little information has been generated on what works; what does not work, and why. Improving the state of the art and increasing successes while diminishing failures depend on a number of factors, such as formulation of a better consensus on definitions, concepts, and measuring achievements; determination of lessons that can be derived from cross-national comparisons and the transferability of these lessons to international, national, and subnational institutions; and development of new as well as improved information exchange networks. This article addresses these factors and recommends an agenda for improving the practice of ICM.