Environmental Planning for Oceans and Coasts

This book informs environmental planning professionals, students and those interested in oceans and coasts from an environmental perspective about what is needed for planning and management of these unique environments. It is comprised of twelve chapters organized in three parts. Part I highlights the basics tenets of environmental planning for oceans and coasts including important concepts from the general field of planning and coastal and ocean management (e.g., hydrography, oceans policy and law, geomorphology). Environmental problems inherent within oceans and coasts (such as sea level rise, marine pollution, overdevelopment, etc.) are also addressed, especially those at the land-sea interface. Part II covers those methodological approaches regularly used by planners working to improve environmental quality and conditions of oceans and coasts among them: integrated planning and management, ecosystem services, pollution prevention, and marine spatial planning. Part III focuses specifically on state-of-the-art tools and technologies employed by planners for marine and coastal protection. These include systematic conservation planning for protected areas, decision support tools, coastal adaptation techniques and various types of communication, including visualization, narration and tools for stakeholder participation. The final chapter in the book reviews the most important concepts covered throughout book and emphasizes the important role that environmental planners have to play in the protection and well-being of oceans and coasts.  Michael K. Orbach, of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, penned the book's foreword.

Michelle Eva Portman is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Architecture in Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. She is an international expert on marine and coastal policy and management; she has studied and worked in the field of environmental planning for over two decades. Her current research program focuses on the Mediterranean Sea. Among the topics her research addresses are: marine protected areas, marine spatial planning, the contribution of marine infrastructure to marine conservation, land-based sources of marine pollution and water sensitive urban development policies.