Coastal Partnerships : Working Together Coastal Partnerships Working Group

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Coastal Partnerships Working Together Coastal
Partnerships Working Group

• Natasha Barker Niall Benson
• Coastal Partnerships Working Group Committee
  Members

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• Rationale for a Coastal Partnerships Working
  Group (CPWG)
• Terms of Reference
• CPWG Progress Planned Activities

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• Rationale for a Coastal Partnerships Working
  Group (CPWG)

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Rationale for a CPWG (1)

• Need for a Working Group
• Partnerships are facilitating or even at the
  forefront of delivering ICZM
• Timely to inform future development of coastal
  legislation/policy
• Benefits of more regular exchange of experience
  and information
• Avoid duplication of effort (e.g. design of
  Business Plans, SoE reporting) - internal
• Realise collective potential to achieve stronger
  results (e.g. input to policy) - external
• Unique role of Partnerships
• Techniques to deliver ICZM are pioneering
  approaches to deliver sustainable resource
  management
• Strengthening local governance
• Providing unique role cross-sectoral, visionary,
  ecosystem/holistic approach, neutral/impartial
  facilitation.

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Rationale for a CPWG (2)

• The Need for Coastal Partnerships to Work More
  Closely Together
• Gain more for effective efficient local
  delivery of plans/strategies ICZM processes
• Develop consensus to inform ICZM Strategies
  Marine Bill
• ? Existing mechanisms include CoastNET Forum (3),
  EMS email discussion group, conferences, regional
  Fora (Wales, Scotland, NW England) BUT NO
  MECHANISM FOR PARTNERSHIP OFFICERS TO WORK
  TOGETHER.
• Benefits of Working Together
• A stronger voice into government
• Promote uniqueness of our role
• Share approaches to current issues
• Support each other
• Work together on future direction (e.g. model
  framework, utilising research, professional
  status)
• Strengthen the quality of our services.

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• Terms of Reference

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• Terms of Reference
• Draft Terms of Reference approved at the CoastNET
  annual Partnerships Forum, June 2006
• Membership of the CPWG
• Up to 15 Partnership Officers Advisors
• Invited Observers (e.g. Host, CoastNet, Scotland,
  Wales)
• Positions
• Chairman Natasha Barker (Severn Estuary
  Partnership)
• Vice-Chairman Niall Benson (Durham Heritage
  Coast)
• Secretary Tracey Hewett (Solent Forum)

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• English Coastal Partnerships Working Group (CPWG)
• Dart Estuary Environmental Management
• Devon Maritime Forum
• Dorset Coast Forum
• Durham Heritage Coast
• Essex Estuaries Initiative
• Humber Management Scheme
• Kent Coast Forum
• North West Coastal Forum
• Severn Estuary Partnership
• Solent Forum
• Suffolk Coasts Heaths
• Thames Estuary Partnership
• Wash Estuary Strategy
• CoastNET (Observer)
• Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum/WCMP (Observor)
• Sefton Council (Advisor)

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• 3. CPWG Progress and Planned Activities

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• 3. CPWG Progress and Planned Activities
• 1st CPWG meeting (Bristol, May 2006)
• Shared views to inform Marine Bill consultation
  (May-June 2006)
• Presented views from the group at CMS conference
  (June 2006)
• CPWG endorsed by CoastNET annual Partnerships
  Forum (June 2006)
• Established email groups (CPWG all Coastal
  Partnerships)
• Additional meeting on future options for Coastal
  Partnerships (Dorset, July 2006)
• ICZM framework for local, regional national
  delivery
• Funding formula for local, regional national
  delivery
• Sharing information views to inform English
  ICZM Strategy Response (August-September 2006)
• UK-wide map of existing Coastal Partnerships
  (ongoing)
• 2nd CPWG meeting (Newcastle, October 2006)
• LGA Coastal Special Interest Group (December
  2006)
• Coastal Futures, 17th January 2006
• 3rd CPWG meeting (London, January 2007)

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The Marine Bill A new shared vision for the
future of our coastal areas, underpinned by
ICZM UK Marine Stewardship Report (2002) The
Marine Bill will provide new legislation that
will enable a new, strategic approach to marine
management, that integrates effectively with what
is already happening on land. Promoting an
integrated approach to management of the coastal
zone (ICZM) in England. DEFRA, June 2006
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including the coast?
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Managing the land-sea interface

• Benefits Achievements of Coastal Partnerships
• Improved communication between stakeholders
• Increased understanding and awareness of issues
  the capacity of the coastal resource
• Higher profile for partners from exposure to
  other stakeholders
• Reaching a wider audience advising on who does
  what
• Access to a large network of contacts with
  interests in the coastal resource
• New collaboration opportunities to achieve tasks
  and implement projects
• Provision of information and advice to enhance
  decision making
• Better understanding and awareness of data
  availability and knowledge gaps
• Increased and improved research co-ordination and
  knowledge transfer
• Assisting with consultation and public awareness
  raising targets
• Advising on policy and strategy formulation for
  spatial planning and providing new avenues for
  community involvement
• Facilitating debate and consensus building over
  complex concerns
• Helping industry to meet their corporate social
  responsibility targets any examples?
• Leverage of funds from within and beyond the
  coastal area for specific projects and services
• Often providing a one-stop-shop for queries
  relating to management and use of the coastal
  area if we dont know it, we know who will!
• Engendering a feeling of a coastal community
  and therefore encouraging sustainable use and
  management in decision-making and everyday
  activities.

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• Key challenges/limitations of coastal
  partnerships
• Inconsistent support relying totally on the
  goodwill of partners and can lead to
  inconsistency in service provision
• Reliance on voluntary support can lead to
  domination of one or more sectors, compromising
  the neutral cross-sectoral goals of a
  partnership
• Lack of central government or regional guidance
  and support with limited policy backing and no
  legal underpinning

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Views from CPWG 1

• Partnerships
• are at the forefront of facilitating
  delivering ICZM
• are pioneering approaches to deliver sustainable
  management
• have unique selling points USPs
• Impartiality
• Integration across sectors between levels of
  decision-making
• Raising awareness
• Horizon scanning
• Attracting funding for projects services
• Gateway service for information contacts
• Filling gaps in management
• A bottom-up governance mechanism
• Unique holistic, cross-sectoral long term
  perspective focused
• on sustainable management.
• Coastal Estuary Partnerships, Forums,
  Projects, Strategies, Management Groups etc.

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Views from CPWG 2

• ICZM provides the mechanism to bring together
  the existing terrestrial planning system with
  proposed Marine Spatial Planning.
• Coastal Partnerships have 10-15 years experience
  around much of the UK coast in delivering ICZM
  through the preparation and delivery of coastal
  plans and strategies.
• The mechanisms to support the ICZM process exist
  through the Partnerships. However, Partnerships
  are supported on a voluntary, ad-hoc basis and
  support is short term (often annual). This has
  limited the effectiveness of partnerships,
  despite many successes.

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Views from CPWG 3

• Partnership Officers are calling for
• National and regional leadership in ICZM, whilst
  supporting the flexible approaches delivered
  through local partnerships.
• Legislation to underpin ICZM as policy
  development does not guarantee commitment in the
  long term.
• A statutory duty (not power) to be placed on
  local authorities, statutory agencies and other
  competent authorities to engage in and deliver
  ICZM.
• Recognition of the achievements of Partnerships
  to date and opportunities to build on successes.
  

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ICZM STRATEGY Coastal Partnerships Working Group

• POTENTIAL NESTED DELIVERY FRAMEWORK
• National (Government Role/MMO?) leadership and
  direction
• Strategic Direction, oversees delivery of ICZM
  Strategy and coastal elements of Marine
  Bill/coordinate statutory agencies/establish
  indicators and monitoring
• Sub-national (MMO?) regional seas coordination
  of ICZM delivery
• Operates at Regional Seas level (alongside MSP
  unit?), interprets ICZM policy, promotes ICZM
  regional, regional information hub, coordinates
  regional research
• Sub-regional network for coordinating local
  delivery
• Network provision for practitioners, topic
  groups, briefings for local delivery teams
• Local delivery units outreach, involves,
  resolves at local level
• Public engagement local issues and conflict
  resolution outreach, identifies problems,
  undertakes CZM project work
• Either estuary officer positions or local
  delivery officers sited within sub-region

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Issues for Discussion

• Legal underpinning for ICZM the most
  appropriate mechanism?
• Local authorities support for coastal
  partnerships statutory/non-statutory
• Levels of ICZM delivery national, regional,
  sub-regional, local
• Levels of MSP delivery regional seas /
  administrative boundaries and addressing the
  land-sea interface
• Nested plans and position of coastal partnerships
• Areas of strategic national importance to
  prioritise resources towards permanent mechanisms
  to enable co-operative management (from LGA ICZM
  Strategy response)
• Role of the English Coastal Forum
• Role of a Coastal Commission
• Corporate responsibility (e.g. INCA)
• Cost-benefit analysis of the coastal partnership
  approach
• ?Recommendations from LGA for CPWG

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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world sustain
the coast?. Indeed, its the only thing that
ever has.Margaret Mead, American
anthropologist and writer
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The Partnership approach works
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• Thank You
• Natasha Barker1 Niall Benson2
• Coastal Partnerships Working Group
• 1 severn_at_cardiff.ac.uk /natasha.barker_at_btopenworld
  .com
• 2 niall.benson_at_durham.gov.uk
• www.coastnet.org