Coastal Governance Research Articles

The Coastal Future We Want: Implications of Coastal People’s Perceptions on Satoumi Actions and Sustainable Development in Northeastern Taiwan

Satoumi is advocated for coastal sustainability under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI), and has provided a basis for countries around the world to formulate national biodiversity strategies and action plans. Given the significant impact of environmental changes and socio-economic decline, relevant policy directions and practices are urgently required to promote the sustainable development of fishing communities in Taiwan. However, local residents and communities are not sufficiently aware of or involved in this concept to facilitate the development of a holistic Satoumi implementation strategy. Therefore, this study integrates the concepts of Satoumi actions and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and has adopted a questionnaire survey to investigate the perceptions of 202 fishing community residents in the Gongliao District of New Taipei City and Yilan County towards these concepts. The standpoint and perception of the fishing community residents regarding Satoumi actions and SDGs provided a valuable reference. The results of the perception of Satoumi actions revealed that all of the respondents recognized Satoumi actions. However, the ranking demonstrated the urgency for some actions (e.g., clear marine litter), and measures that have been implemented in Taiwan but still need improvement (e.g., fish stocking practices). Satoumi actions were associated with two key factors that affect the perception of residents at Satoumi: “Empowerment through community-based industry and environmental education”, and “Conservation of crucial biological resources and habitats”. For the SDGs perceptions, the two factors were “Marine socio-economic sustainability” and “The sustainable use of marine ecological resources”. This study also adopted cluster analysis and identified three characteristically different groups of residents: The Conservation Priority Group, Industry–Society Priority Group, and Balanced Development Group. According to the major research findings, policies implemented in coastal areas of Taiwan have aligned with global sustainability trends. However, the attitude of the Industry–Society Priority Group, which has the largest sample size, should be changed to that held by the Balanced Development Group, in order to formulate a strategy for a balanced development that secures existing livelihoods and aligns with expectations on environmental sustainability. This study suggests that methodologies that encourage stakeholder interactions, dialogues, and consensus-building should be utilized to develop strategies for future work. Furthermore, policy tools related to coastal management should be analyzed to establish a comprehensive toolkit for coastal governance. Finally, Satoumi requires public–private collaboration to achieve both biodiversity conservation and transformative change towards more sustainably and equitably social, environmental, and economic coastal development.

How resilience is framed matters for governance of coastal social-ecological systems.

Effective governance of social-ecological systems (SES) is an enduring challenge, especially in coastal environments where accelerating impacts of climate change are increasing pressure on already stressed systems. While resilience is often proposed as a suitable framing to re-orient governance and management, the literature includes many different, and sometimes conflicting, definitions and ideas that influence how the concept is applied, especially in coastal environments. This study combines discourse analysis of the coastal governance literature and key informant interviews in Tasmania, Australia, demonstrating inconsistencies and confusion in the way that resilience is framed in coastal governance research and practice. We find that resilience is most often framed as (1) a rate of recovery from disturbance or (2) the process of acting in response to, or anticipation of, a disturbance. A third framing considers resilience as an emergent property of SESs. This framing, social-ecological resilience, accounts for multiple configurations of SES, which necessitates adaptation and transformation strategies to address changes across temporal and spatial scales. Coastal managers recognised the value of this third framing for governing coastal SESs, yet the confusion and inconsistency in the literature was also evident in how they understood and applied resilience in practice. Expanding the use of social-ecological resilience is essential for more effective coastal governance, given the dynamics of coastal SESs and the intensity of social, economic, and environmental drivers of change these systems face. However, this requires addressing the unclear, confused, and superficial use of resilience-oriented concepts in research and policy discourse.

Public perception and preferences for coastal risk management: Evidence from a convergent parallel mixed-methods study

Coastal ecosystems are exposed to unprecedented levels of human pressure and to the cumulative effects of climate change. Altogether, these threats have been exposing coastal areas to augmented hazardous processes, leaving communities highly vulnerable to coastal risks and challenging the coastal management paradigm. Disregarding public perceptions of coastal risk management may be myopic and, thus, an obstacle to the success of the efforts towards coastal risks' mitigation and adaptation. Therefore, this study aims at comprehensively ascertain public perception and preferences for coastal risk management, through a mixed-methods approach. The quantitative study accounted for 3028 participants that enrolled in the population-based survey. The qualitative study accounted for 320 participants that responded to the e-interview. Data were analysed independently and triangulated for further interpretation. Evidence from this study suggests that citizens prioritize the intrinsic value of coastal systems, when favouring a risk adaptation strategy. Therefore, ecosystem-based adaptation measures were highlighted, in detriment of grey infrastructure. Additionally, and due to the reported high levels of public authorities' distrust, the public seems to urge for a transition from a technocratic to a participatory coastal management, in which public's preferences are legitimized. Consequently, and in order to decentralize coastal governance, citizens demonstrated a proactive disposition to actively engage in coastal management. Findings from this study were discussed in order to provide guidance to the development of tailored coastal management initiatives and policy tools, which are expected to be effective at enhancing coastal communities' resilience to hazardous processes and augmenting citizens' engagement in coastal management.

Key lessons from new perspectives on Australian coastal management

Approaches to Australian coastal management are constantly changing yet continue to fall short in terms of social-ecological resilience. We provide a commentary on contemporary Australian coastal management issues and responses, informed by a selection of papers that were invited for a Special Issue of this journal following the Australian Coastal Society's 2021 national coastal conference. The selected papers were categorised into three groupings: 1) coastal governance; 2) coastal threats and adaptation; and 3) coastal processes. They were then analysed in the context of both the unique Australian federated approach to coastal management and the international literature on coastal management. A number of findings and themes emerge. First, the paper confirms previous findings on a lack of federal leadership in Australian coastal management and lack of action on recommendations from numerous national coastal inquiries. The paper concludes that: there has been a significant reduction of coastal expertise in the federal public service; there is a lack of a well-defined broad-based federal funding mechanism for coastal management; there is a need to incorporate a sediment compartment approach in both Australian coastal planning and climate adaptation strategies; a number of coastal management instruments at the State level appear not fit for purpose; and coastal adaptation faces conflicts in balancing property rights with public coastal amenity.

Transitioning from blue growth to the sustainable blue economy: A review of Ireland’s new marine governance in the aquaculture sector

This paper reviews the evolution of marine governance in Ireland in response to EU policy requirements in relation to the development of a sustainable blue economy in coherence with the United Nations Ocean Decade (2021-2030). In response to these EU requirements, Ireland has introduced the National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF) and Maritime Area Planning Act, 2021 (MAPA) in 2021 to deliver this sustainable blue economy. This new marine and coastal governance framework in Ireland reforms the consenting regime for key blue economy sectors such as Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) and sets new policy requirements for the integration of aquaculture within the MSP framework. However, the exclusion of aquaculture from the new consenting regime may hinder the full integration of the sector into MSP and impede compliance with environmental goals established by EU Directives (e.g., WFD, MSFD, MSPD). This review identifies policy and legal gaps which may impede the integration of aquaculture into the new Irish marine governance and national MSP process. Furthermore, this paper analyses aquaculture licensing cases to assess the integration of environmental criteria into planning decisions to gather insight into the readiness of the sector’s transition towards a sustainable model. The analysis from this paper indicates that the legal framework underpinning MSP in Ireland may have a limited impact on the integration of aquaculture and hinder the delivery of sustainability across all marine sectors.

Factors influencing compliance of closed fishing season: lessons from small-scale coastal fisheries in the Central Region of Ghana

This paper contributes to the literature on marine conservation and its implication for coastal governance and sustainability. The study investigates factors influencing fisherfolk compliance with the temporal fishing bans in Ghana. The purpose is to understand the factors influencing compliance behaviour to help design an improved conservation strategy to achieve management objectives. A mixed-method approach was employed, consisting of 200 household surveys and 17 in-depth interviews with stakeholders at the local, district, regional, and national levels. The results reveal that a combination of instrumental and normative factors influences fisherfolk’s compliance behaviour concerning the closed fishing season. Participation of fisherfolk and coastal communities in the fisheries management decision-making processes positively influenced compliance. The key drivers of non-compliance with the closed season emanate from a perceived lack of ecological effectiveness, lack of enforcement of sanctions, and lack of compensation for loss of income during the ban. The study suggests co-management that includes fisheries agencies and traditional authorities as a viable option for fisheries management and marine conservation initiatives. In addition, the paper recommends the introduction of conservation payment schemes alongside strict monitoring of the temporal ban on fishing.

Pathways to integrate Indigenous and local knowledge in ocean governance processes: Lessons from the Algoa Bay Project, South Africa

The Introduction of this paper argues that current coastal and ocean management approaches like marine spatial planning (MSP) often do not adequately acknowledge and integrate Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK). This is problematic because how humans value and perceive coastal and marine resources is integrally linked to how they use and manage these resources, especially in adapting to social-ecological change. Coastal and marine resources are situated within complex social-ecological systems that are culturally, economically, historically and politically embedded. Therefore, management approaches have to integrate transdisciplinary and contextual perspectives in order to be relevant, sustainable and adaptive. Following extensive research in Algoa Bay, South Africa this article highlights several pathways to bridge the gap between existing ILK and current coastal and ocean management approaches. The Methods section discusses how the authors worked in tandem with a bottom-up (engaging with Indigenous and local coastal and marine resource users) and top-down (engaging with coastal governance authorities and practitioners) approach. In order to answer the primary research question “How can ILK be integrated into area-based ocean management like MSP”? the authors employed arts-based participatory methods as well as in-depth interviews and workshops with coastal governance authorities and practitioners over several months. This work then culminated in a one-day multi-stakeholder workshop which brought both ILK holders and coastal authorities and practitioners together to collaboratively identify pathways to integrate this knowledge into coastal and ocean management. In the Results and Discussion section the authors present and discuss five co-identified pathways to integrate ILK in coastal and ocean management which include: adopting contextual approaches to coastal and ocean management; increasing transparency and two-way communication between coastal authorities and users; increasing access to relevant and useable information; reviewing and amending relevant MSP legislation towards a stronger connection between MSP and Indigenous knowledge legislation; as well as amending legislation pertaining to access to coastal and marine areas. In the Conclusion it is argued that ILK coastal communities want to be meaningfully included in how their coastline and ocean resources are managed and also seek increased access to coastal areas. By highlighting pathways to include ILK and the knowledge holders themselves, this paper seeks to contribute to improved protection and sustainable management of marine resource use.

Territorial planning and adaptation to global changes. A critical analysis of the French State doctrine on the coast of the Gulf of Lion

The Mediterranean coast condition is worrying. The Gulf of Lion coast lower and sandy areas, densely urbanized, are particularly exposed to erosion. In addition, this coastline will experience by 2100 an increase in salt water intrusions, floods by marine submersion and damage to infrastructure due to sea level rise. The State first “left it to the developers” at the end of the 19th century, then decided to build new seaside resorts within the ‘Mission Racine’ the framework in the second half of the 20th century. The State now defends a “retreat doctrine” by relocating activities and people further away from the sea. However, this doctrine is opposed by economic actors and especially by local elected representatives, who have become the real architects of planning policies as a result of the 80’ decentralisation. The adaptation of this very touristy coast, which was an international laboratory of architectural and urban innovation during the 1960s, therefore seems compromised. Neither the local planning tools nor even the regional coastal management strategy can reconcile economic development and resilient urban planning in the absence of coastal governance.

A virtual paradise? Platform algorithms, coastal change, and the production of nature in the Philippines

Across parts of Southeast Asia, coastal governance strategies have drawn on ‘ecotourism’ initiatives for ‘sustainable development’ by constructing captivating imaginaries of coastal places and people as sites of touristic production and consumption. Increasingly, representations of exotic and pristine coastal natures are reproduced virtually in support of this campaign through Web 2.0 platforms and their underlying algorithms. As ecotourism expands in the region, growing networks of social media users coproduce and consume abstract virtual natures with profound consequences for coastal peoples and ecosystems. In particular, Instagram, a popular photo sharing social media platform, has become central to reifying and distorting complex coastal realities. Drawing on a case from El Nido, Palawan Island, the Philippines, our paper examines how the virtual representation of coastal places and people on Instagram accelerate coastal transformations. Our results reveal how the political economy of coastal governance and the platform capitalism of social media converge to accelerate ecotourism in ways that realign virtual ideals and material realities. As virtual imaginaries shape coastal realities, new forms of exclusion and misrepresentation of people and places drive the displacement of local fishers, violence against activists, and coastal degradation. Bringing together research exploring (mass) ecotourism, platform capitalism and virtualism, we argue that greater scholarly attention should be placed on how new digital actors and platform algorithms influence how coastal peoples and places are imagined, consumed and subject to violence over time.

Making a network of patches, gaps, and spaces: marine and coastal governance in Stilbaai, South Africa.

Based on research conducted by myself and colleagues as part of the Southern Cape Interdisciplinary Fisheries Research Project, I present an overview of residents’ perspectives on the Stilbaai Marine Protected Area, located on the Southern Cape coast of South Africa. Currently, South Africa’s marine governance sector is often fraught with politicking, inefficiencies, and other effects that strain the social-ecological system. This research shows that despite some fragmentation of governance, there are opportunities, and a general willingness, to engage in activities that take care of the local environment on the behalf of residents, that serve to educate about ocean-positive behaviours and engage visitors more meaningfully on the benefits and value of the Stilbaai Marine Protected Area. Problems that residents perceive to be associated with the Marine Protected Area are noted, and suggestions are made to enhance a sense of caretaking, or sorgskap, within the community to fill the gaps of certain governance or regulation inadequacies. Indeed, I argue that in lieu of efficient formal governance structures and collaborations, it is the informal characteristic of caretaking activities by the community that renders these activities more sustainable, long term, and effective in building a “culture” of caretaking.

Interactive Governance for the Sustainability of Marine and Coastal Resources in Thailand

Coastal zones are biodiverse, with complex and dynamic interconnectivity between terrestrial and marine areas, and with multiple interactions between ecological and social systems. Despite on-going efforts to conserve and protect these ecosystems, destructive extraction and unsustainable resource utilization are persistent, posing challenges for governance. Issues and concerns in coastal zones are cross-sectoral and cross-boundary, often with overlapping jurisdictions. They are considered ‘wicked’ governance problems, requiring nuanced approaches to address, rather than technical quick fixes. Interactive governance is one such approach that examines relationships within and between the ecological and social systems, as well as with the governing system. Theoretically, the governability of coastal zones depends on the inherent quality of these systems and their interactions, and improving governability needs to take place in all three orders of governance. At the ‘first order’, a better understanding of the diversity, complexity and dynamics of coastal zones, and related scale issues is required. Improving governability at the ‘second order’ involves evaluating and adjusting the existing legal and institutional frameworks to improve the performance and the correspondence with the systems they aim to govern. Finally, discussion about coastal governance needs to be elevated to ‘meta-order’ where principles are set and values derived so that hard choices can be made, for instance, between conservation and utilization of coastal resources. Guided by the interactive governance framework, the paper presents an overview of coastal governance in Thailand, summarizing key features of the natural, social and governing systems associated with coastal zones, and discussing what can be done to improve coastal governability.

Perspectives on building climate resilience via marine and coastal management from the governance frontline in Victoria, Australia

Coastal and marine management are facing one of the greatest threats to practical application and relevance ever due to the need for meaningful adaptation to the impacts from climate change. There is genuine long-term and large-scale change locked into our coastal systems regardless of the pace of emissions control. There are grave practical realities currently faced by coastal and marine managers and planners that will increase in the coming one to two decades. Recently, the State of Victoria in Australia reformed the coastal and marine governance structures, in part designed to prepare for impacts due to climate change. This provides an opportunity via a case study approach to review the current application of coastal governance to enable adaptation. This paper does so from a privileged vantage point – that of a crucial actor embedded in the legislative and governance structure – the Chair of a Ministerial Advisory Council appointed to provide advice to decision-makers regarding coastal and marine planning and management in the jurisdiction. The paper takes a multi-disciplinary and reflexive approach and from a practitioner's perspective the paper tests the robustness of the governance system against three pointed challenges to implementing the system. The three challenges are 1/how to meaningfully collaborate with communities for transformational change; 2/are hard questions about adaptation being asked; and 3/understanding what levers (e.g., policy, governance, societal) can be pulled to drive adaptation within the available time horizons. Drawing on frameworks from various disciplines, reflexive experience, and analysis of secondary data, this perspectives paper makes three conclusions: 1/that transformational change is needed which requires alignment in the perception of risk by different rights-holders and stakeholders; 2/that collaboration is required with an urgent focus needed to challenge current practices which likely do not enable decision-makers, and finally 3/that leadership is specifically required to tackle the hard questions about coastal adaptation (like to retreat or not). With a governance approach that shares elements (e.g., objectives, links to catchment management, planning tools) with other international jurisdictions in Europe and the Americas, there may be lessons learned from this maturing system that are applicable to other jurisdictions.

Qi no tu i baba ni qwali (living down by the river): Impacts of flooding and mining on ecosystems and livelihoods

A vast ocean rich with resources to maintain a sustainable livelihood surround Pacific Island Countries and Territories. In Fiji, coastal resources are a primary source of food, medicine, income and other necessities for livelihood security. Human-induced climate change places growing pressure on the quality of coastal resources due to the increased intensity and frequency of natural disasters like coastal erosion and flooding. Anthropogenic activities like coastal mining of earth minerals further threatens livelihood security with cumulative pressure on the coastal environment and its resources. This paper discusses the compounding impacts of mining in the flood-prone community of Vanua Votua in Ba (Fiji). They currently witness the degradation of their coastal environment and its resources (iqoliqoli). The people of Vanua Votua have a cultural and spiritual attachment to their coastal ecosystem as indigenous custodians. However, they are limited in their ability to conserve and protect their iqoliqoli due to an unfair legal duality of national coastal governance structures and processes between the state and indigenous custodians. We found that a central issue of coastal mining, governance, and the people’s livelihood vulnerabilities, is Fiji’s Mining Act [Cap 146] and associated environmental legislations and policies that consolidate much of the coastal governance authority with the state. The Fiji Mining Act is currently under review. This paper provides a timely case study using the Sustainable Livelihood Approach and the Vanua Research Framework, outlining the need for current and future legislation to be nuanced and sensitive to the realities of the local context.

Spotlighting Women-Led Fisheries Livelihoods Toward Sustainable Coastal Governance: The Estuarine and Mangrove Ecosystem Shellfisheries of West Africa

The governance of coastal and marine resources remains a complex socio-ecological endeavor in many African countries, but women are leading the way and demonstrating a pathway for food fish security through rights-based co-management of shellfisheries in estuarine and mangrove ecosystems in West Africa. We report comprehensively, for the first time, the scale of estuarine and mangrove ecosystem-based shellfisheries across the West African coast (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria), the gender dynamics, and implications for the sustainable management of this small-scale fishery. We find an extensive geographical coverage of active shellfisheries within these ecosystems with close to 571,000 household beneficiaries and over 50,000 harvesters, mainly women, being the primary resource users. An annual shellfish harvest of over 300,000 MT valued at USD 336 million is potentially undocumented across the region. Harvested shellfish species of economic importance comprised 18 species of mollusks, 11 species of crustaceans, and a few unidentified groups of gastropods, crustaceans, and cephalopods. The West African mangrove oyster, periwinkle, bloody cockle, whelk, and razor clam were, in that order, the most harvested estuarine shellfish. The bivalve and gastropod value chains are dominated by women harvesters at all nodes whereas women play significant roles in the processing and marketing of crustacean and cephalopod fisheries. Formal laws specific to the regulation of estuarine shellfisheries are generally nonexistent, however, the organized women shellfish harvester groups of the Tanbi wetlands (The Gambia) and Densu Delta (Ghana) have championed sustainable governance actions resulting in successful women resource user-led fisheries co-management. The elements of success and opportunities for scaling up these examples are discussed. The presence of such groups in several locations offers an entry point for replicating a similar co-management approach across the West African coast.

Scientific Mapping of Coastal Governance: Global Benchmarks and Trends

This research panoramically and empirically reviews the scientific production on coastal governance studies, mapping global networks of countries, organizations, authors, themes, and journals as referents for this topic. The articles were examined through a bibliometric/scientometric approach based on 2043 articles corpus stored in the Web of Science (JCR), applying the bibliometric laws of Price, Lotka, and Zipf to add further validity to the use of VOSviewer for data and metadata processing. The results highlight an uninterrupted exponential increase in publications since 1991, with a high concentration in 29 countries (21%), 461 organizations (18%), 99 authors (1.45%), and 4 growing journals (1%). The emerging topics observed in the literature are related to coastal sustainability and coastal management. Complementing previous studies on coastal zone management and marine territorial planning, we add coastal systems governance as a topic.

Aligning bottom-up initiatives and top-down policies? A comparative analysis of overfishing and coastal governance in Ghana, Tanzania, the Philippines, and Thailand

As coastal communities across the Global South confront the multiple challenges of climate change, overfishing, poverty and other socio-environmental pressures, there is an increasing need to understand diverse coastal governance responses and livelihood trajectories from a comparative perspective. This paper presents a holistic investigation of the pressures coastal communities face in four countries and examines possible meeting points between bottom-up initiatives and top-down policies. We compare the experiences of eight fishing areas in Ghana, Tanzania, Thailand and the Philippines and ask how small-scale fishing communities perceive overfishing and other socio-environmental pressures; what factors determine the success and failure of coastal governance initiatives; and how different initiatives can be made congruent to improve coastal, rural development outcomes. Results from an extensive survey of 835 fisherfolk and semi-structured interviews with 196 key informants show that overfishing remains a significant driver of livelihood trajectories in the communities and that fisherfolk respond through informal mechanisms of collective action. Drawing from these diverse experiences, we propose viewing coastal livelihood trajectories through the integrated dimensions of socio-environmental relationships and coastal governance options and discuss implications that address institutional scalar flexibility, illegal fishing, and persistent marginalisation.

Local divergence and obstacles to spur inclusive coastal development in Iloilo Province, the Philippines

This purpose of this article is to demonstrate (1) how growing seaweed in the central Philippines is affected by multifaceted local dynamics and (2) how it is also dependent on the complementary livelihood strategies of in situ and ex situ diversification. This article explores the livelihood trajectories of 45 households that were all engaged in growing seaweed in 2015. Surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted with households and key informants in two municipalities. Results reveal a process of livelihood divergence. While in one municipality growing seaweed has become a relative success, virtually all households in the other municipality have had to stop growing seaweed, returned to fishing, and remained poor. The reasons for this divergence can be found in the spheres of environmental challenges, value chain governance dynamics, and local coastal governance. Three implications are put forward that could improve the inclusiveness of coastal development in the Philippines and beyond.

Beyond categories and boundaries: transmarine mobility and coastal governance of Northeast Asia in the sixteenth century

AbstractThis article investigates the growth of cross-border movement and migration in the northern portion of the Yellow Sea during the sixteenth century, which generated ongoing interactions and tensions with the coastal governance of Chosŏn Korea and Ming China. The fluid flow of private seafarers reconnected the northern Yellow Sea and revitalised its maritime economy, making this space an integral part of wider trade networks. Meanwhile, the Chosŏn and Ming authorities also attempted to discern, categorise, and institutionalise this transmarine mobility in their discursive, administrative, and geographic spaces. Instead of considering the two polities as land based and inward looking, this article foregrounds the dynamics of their coastal control mechanisms, while at the same time paying close attention to their constraints on filtering and scrutinising maritime violence.

Towards adaptive coastal management law: Lessons from Australia and Brazil

Although adaptive management has been advocated for dealing with the complexity and dynamics of social-ecological systems for more than 40 years, successful outcomes in practice have been limited. Among the efforts to overcome this implementation gap, there has been a growing interest in understanding the role of law in adaptive management. In this article, we provide an analysis of adaptive management in two jurisdictions struggling with coastal erosion in the context of their legal arrangements for coastal management: (i) Byron Shire, a local government area in the State of New South Wales, Australia; and (ii) Florianópolis, a municipality in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Methods included document analysis and inductive thematic coding of 50 semi-structured interviews with key informants from four different stakeholder groups. Our results indicate that both legal certainty and legal flexibility are relevant for adaptive management success. Three directions towards coupling adaptive coastal management with law are suggested: (i) to incorporate adaptive management into coastal management legislation; (ii) to address legal path dependencies that cause maladaptation; and (iii) to integrate adaptive coastal management and adaptive coastal governance through adaptive coastal management law. Our suggestions contribute to improved knowledge on adaptive coastal management law by emphasising the need for an optimal balance between legal flexibility and legal certainty, which represents an avenue for further research and policy development beyond the jurisdictions analysed.

Factors influencing hazard management by municipalities: The case of coastal communities

As climate and anthropogenic changes increase the vulnerability of coastal areas around the world, the threat (and reality) of coastal hazards grows. These threats arise particularly at a local level, calling out for more knowledge on how to best support coastal municipalities to deal with natural and human-induced hazards. This study seeks to add to the understanding through an examination of local-level experience with hazard planning and responses carried out by coastal municipalities, producing insights on how to reduce their vulnerability and support their resilience. It explores the factors influencing coastal municipalities’ management of relevant hazards to achieve comprehensive multi-hazard risk reduction and adaptation. We do so through a national survey of Canada’s coastal municipalities which assessed experience with hazards, risk perception, hazard prioritization, and the extent and specifics of hazard responses. We characterize the determinants of coastal municipalities’ behaviour and intervening factors, and conduct regression analyses to explain coastal municipalities’ risk perception, hazard prioritization, implementation of management processes for dealing with hazards, and the number of implemented or planned hazard responses. Six key factors were identified that influence hazard responses at the municipal level: experience with hazards; competing priorities; hazard visibility; access to resources (financial and technical capacity) and governance (institutional setting and political capacity). We conclude that municipal hazard responses can be reinforced by increasing the effectiveness of risk communication, promoting participatory processes, providing support for municipalities’ identified needs and priorities, ensuring municipalities have access to relevant information and expertise, and implementing integrated coastal governance and management.