17
Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359 Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena Aldo Chircop* Marine Awairs Program, Dalhousie University, 1234 Seymour Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3J5 Abstract This paper addresses di$culties associated with the de"nition of the "eld of integrated coastal management and the packaging of relevant knowledge and skills for program and curriculum development purposes. Context, inter-disciplinarity, integration and process are discussed as critical elements in curriculum development. The learning arena (classroom setting) is then discussed with reference to program objectives, a balance between knowledge and skills, methodology and faculty to deliver the program and core courses. The author concludes by emphasizing that di!erent contexts will necessitate di!erent approaches to the teaching of the "eld and that curriculum developers should beware of easy solutions. ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Perhaps one of the more signi"cant developments in the "eld of integrated coastal management (ICM) in the 1990s is the widespread increase of tertiary education degree programs. The "rst university programs to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s were primarily in North America and the United Kingdom, and these probably still constitute a majority. 1 However, in the last 8 yr we have seen new marine a!airs programs, frequently with a coastal management focus, in regions that include * Tel.: #1-902-494-1318; fax: #1-902-494-100. E-mail address: aldo1957@aol.com (A. Chircop). 1 Programs outside North America include the Ocean Resources Management Program at the Univer- sity of the South Paci"c, Fiji, and the Marine Resource and Environmental Management Program (MAREMP), at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados. 0964-5691/00/$ - see front matter ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 6 4 - 5 6 9 1 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 3 2 - 6

Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359

Teaching integrated coastal management: lessonsfrom the learning arena

Aldo Chircop*Marine Awairs Program, Dalhousie University, 1234 Seymour Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3J5

Abstract

This paper addresses di$culties associated with the de"nition of the "eld of integratedcoastal management and the packaging of relevant knowledge and skills for program andcurriculum development purposes. Context, inter-disciplinarity, integration and process arediscussed as critical elements in curriculum development. The learning arena (classroomsetting) is then discussed with reference to program objectives, a balance between knowledgeand skills, methodology and faculty to deliver the program and core courses. The authorconcludes by emphasizing that di!erent contexts will necessitate di!erent approaches to theteaching of the "eld and that curriculum developers should beware of easy solutions. ( 2000Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Perhaps one of the more signi"cant developments in the "eld of integrated coastalmanagement (ICM) in the 1990s is the widespread increase of tertiary educationdegree programs. The "rst university programs to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s wereprimarily in North America and the United Kingdom, and these probably stillconstitute a majority.1 However, in the last 8 yr we have seen new marine a!airsprograms, frequently with a coastal management focus, in regions that include

*Tel.: #1-902-494-1318; fax: #1-902-494-100.E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Chircop).1Programs outside North America include the Ocean Resources Management Program at the Univer-

sity of the South Paci"c, Fiji, and the Marine Resource and Environmental Management Program(MAREMP), at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados.

0964-5691/00/$ - see front matter ( 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.PII: S 0 9 6 4 - 5 6 9 1 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 3 2 - 6

Page 2: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

2New programs include Australia (Universities in North Sydney and Wollongong), Costa Rica (Univer-sity of Costa Rica), United Kingdom (Universities of Bournemouth and Portsmouth), and Canada(Memorial University, diploma program), and yet more new programs are planned for Cuba (Universitiesof Cienfuegos, Havana and Oriente), Indonesia (University of Hasannudin), Mexico (University ofGuadalajara), Philippines (University of the Philippines, Visayas), Vietnam (National University ofVietnam, Hanoi campus) and South Africa (University of Cape Town), among others. A new degree pro-gram by the University of London will be delivered via the internet with UNDP support (seewww.sdnp.undp.org.siocam).

Australia, the Caribbean, Central America and Southeast Asia.2 The initiatives toestablish such programs have been university-based, occasionally assisted by interna-tional donor agencies in some countries, but in all cases they are the result ofuniversity recognition that ICM is a legitimate "eld of knowledge accompanied by anactual or potential job market for graduates. The initiative for a model ICM programfor the Mediterranean is consistent with these developments.

There is no one approach to the development of a marine a!airs program, or anICM program in particular. University practices over the last 30 yr show muchdiversity. The newer programs, which tend to look for `modelsa in earlier programs,eventually and appropriately, develop their own approach and content to build ontheir existing strengths and thereby ensure relevance for their constituencies. Even so,however, there are certain elements, and consequent opportunities and problems,resulting in shared experiences by many of these programs. These are both academic,in terms of the substantive content and teaching of the program, and administrative,in terms of the type of institutional infrastructure and support needed in universitiesthat are still preponderantly organized along disciplinary lines.

There is still much to be learned about appropriate methodologies that facilitate thecomplex ICM learning environment. ICM is a di$cult "eld to teach, in terms of multi-and inter-disciplinary perspectives, methodologies and content (problem and contextde"nition, planning process and management action, and leadership). Traditionalteaching techniques, such as class lecturing and research assignments do not, in thisauthor's opinion and experience, attain desired learning objectives. Lecturing tends toreinforce class hierarchy and single-instructor bias (life and discipline values andinterests), which are at odds with the con#icting values and more open and inclusiveprocess which the future coastal manager is likely to face in the "eld. Researchassignments without proper contextualization will not sensitize students to the needto question assumptions, discipline-biased perspectives and research methodologieswhich the student "rst experienced in an undergraduate degree. A proper skill-setshould accompany the knowledge base the student will acquire. There are opportuni-ties as well as pitfalls in the generation of a stimulating learning environment in this"eld.

Through this article this author hopes to perform the role of agent provocateur, tostimulate discussion of key issues arising from graduate degree program developmentin ICM at a time when many new university initiatives are under way. The focus is onthe learning environment in the program and approaches and tools that facilitate theachievement of such an environment. It is hoped that it will encourage ICM educators

344 A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359

Page 3: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

3E.g.: Ocean and Coastal Management J and Coastal Management.4E.g.: (US-based) Coastal Society, Coastal Zone USA, Coastal Zone Canada and Eurolittoral.

to seek a deeper assessment of the "eld for educational purposes and to challengestudents with participative learning approaches to complement traditional lecturing.

2. ICM as a 5eld of knowledge

Perhaps the "rst challenge the educator faces in ICM degree program developmentis the "eld of knowledge concerned. How is this to be de"ned in order to be packagedinto appropriate required and optional courses, and in terms of relevant problems forresearch purposes, and to do this usefully and e$ciently without unnecessary overlapswith other programs in the same institution? This needs to be done before programobjectives can be developed as the way the program looks at the "eld will in#uenceperceptions on how professionals (planners, managers, consultants, entrepreneurs andcommunity organizers) and instructors (teachers and trainers) should be educated.The mission one sees for an academic program will depend also on what one sees inthe "eld of knowledge and opportunities for one's graduates in that work market.I would also add that the way the "eld is perceived will in#uence the institutionalframework formulated for such a program at a university.

Unlike many other areas of knowledge, ICM cannot be described as a discipline.This is a limiting factor, but it does carry advantages. It is limiting because ICM is noteasy to de"ne in terms of what it is and does, at least not in sharp contradistinction toother "elds (e.g., environmental management) to show how di!erent it really is, or is itmore of the same or part of something else. At times of "scal restraint, universityadministrators will take a hard look at the degree of di!erence between a proposedICM and existing academic programs. ICM has an amorphous character, whichmakes it di$cult to nail down precisely, for students to maintain a sense of identityand `belonginga in comparison to other students, and for practitioners to identifythemselves as belonging to a `profession.a

The advantage of designation as a "eld, rather than a discipline, is the freedom tocut across di!erent perspectives and methodologies in pursuit of problems, thusproviding opportunities for inter-disciplinarity without letting the premises andassumptions of any one discipline overshadow or condition the overall approach tolearning. In ICM programs, it is necessary to expose students to the full range ofdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies to enable them to fully appreciate prob-lems and issues, and eventually to work in that environment.

The good news is that ICM is now well established as a "eld of knowledge. It hassubstantial literature, several academic and professional periodicals dedicated to the"eld,3 regular academic and professional conference circuits,4 and more recently eventextbooks [1}3]. Since its emergence in the late 1960s, it has achieved academic andprofessional legitimacy as an intellectual activity. It did not develop as a speci"cbranch of knowledge, such as any of the natural or social sciences. Nonetheless, ICM

A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359 345

Page 4: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

5Principle 13: `In order to achieve a more rational management of resources and thus to improve theenvironment, states should adopt an integrated and coordinated approach to their development planningso as to ensure that development is compatible with the need to protect and improve the humanenvironment for the bene"t of their populationa.: Declaration of the UN Conference on the HumanEnvironment, Stockholm, 5 June 1972, reproduced in [4].

6 `2 [T]he problems of ocean space are closely interrelated and need to be considered as a whole,a inPreamble [5].

7The "rst editorial committee of the Annales included intellectuals with backgrounds in human geogra-phy, economic history, sociology, political economy and political science. See Richard Mayne's commentsas translator of Braudel [6]. In that book, Braudel wrote that `to de"ne the idea of civilization requires thecombined e!orts of all the social sciences.a In pursuing this e!ort, Braudel drew not only on history, butalso on geography, sociology, economics and collective psychology. Braudel [6].

has developed and is recognized as a `"elda which cuts across a large number ofdisciplines or branches of knowledge. In many ways it has also developed a closerelationship with other branches of knowledge such as "sheries management andwatershed management. However, it must be emphasized that it has not developed, orat least not as yet, into a discipline with its own unique perspective, methodology andsubstantive concerns, resulting in a systematic course of inquiry in relation toa natural phenomenon or human behaviour. It is not limited to a branch of know-ledge, but rather draws heavily on di!erent branches. ICM thus borrows all thede"ning characteristics of a discipline from other disciplines that tend to have a clearerde"nition and identity, creating in a sense something di!erent, although notnecessarily new.

Multi- and inter-disciplinarity in ICM has, on the other hand, provided a conve-nient entry point into the "eld by numerous disciplines. Inter-disciplinarity meansthat the "eld has di!erent entry points in the social sciences, natural sciences andengineering disciplines. This is re#ected, in turn, by the wide variety of universityacademic units that have expressed an interest in, or taken the lead in developing ICMprograms, such as civil engineering, environmental studies, geography, law andoceanography.

Curiously, there is a lack of novity in the various elements of ICM. If we look atsome of the key elements in ICM we see how. ICM cannot claim exclusivity to theintegrated approach, for this was probably "rst advocated with reference to environ-mental management and the need to be multi-sectoral, receiving in the process muchkudos from the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan on the Human Environ-ment.5 The need to look at problems as a `wholea was also a guiding element duringthe Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1973}1982), and thiseventually found a place in the preamble of the UN Convention on the Law of theSea6 [5]. Thus, the holistic approach developed in parallel with ICM.

For the same reason, inter-disciplinarity is not exclusive to it as this has beenpractised as an approach to learning again at least since Stockholm. Indeed in relationto research, one can easily "nd a precursor in the Annales d'histoire e& conomique etsociale, founded in Strasbourg in 1929, which advocated an inter- and multi-disciplin-ary approach to the study of history (more broadly de"ned than just political history),later to be further developed by Fernand Braudel7 [6]. Nor can it claim exclusivity to

346 A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359

Page 5: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

8 16 U.S.C. 1451.9 It is now recognized that land-based sources of marine pollution need to be addressed through

integrated coastal management strategies as national implementation action. See Global program of Actionfor the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities, UNEP(OCA)/LBA/IG.2/7,5 December 1995, at 11 et seq.

zoning in managing potentially con#icting uses in a de"ned spatial area, as this wasalready a practice of land use and urban planning before ICM emerged. The increas-ing ICM emphasis on watersheds and ecosystems again draws very heavily from otherdisciplines, including water resources management and environmental ecology.Likewise, the ICM interest in marine living resources draws on marine biology andoceanography (perhaps itself a mixture of disciplines), and the humanistic side bor-rows from economics, sociology and anthropology.

What ICM can claim as its own unique concern is the `area of interface betweenland and sea,a in whatever way this is de"ned (spatially, ecosystemically, economi-cally, socially, etc.), and the interdependencies in this area of interactions. This concernis also well timed, in the sense that ICM has served to focus attention on a fastdegrading coastal and inshore marine environment in many parts of the world. This isthe proble&matique of ICM. Originally de"ned in limited spatial terms under thein#uence of the US Coastal Zone Management Act,8 there is now wide recognitionthat this approach is limiting. A better approach would be to think in terms ofland}sea interface problems that need to be addressed, letting spatial de"nition followas a means to an end, rather than start as premise. However, this approach haspotentially widened the horizon of ICM in a way as to leave one wondering whetherthe overall proble&matique that ICM is trying to grapple with is more integratedplanning and management for environment and development, irrespective of thespatial or issue emphasis. The management of a coastal area through a watershedapproach can take the manager far inland, upstream, to the uplands, which may be farfrom the coastal area. The logic and necessity are obvious, for estuarine environmentsare hard to manage unless the entire watercourse is managed. In the case of certaininternational watercourses, such as the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Danube,Rhine and Indus, the distances are very great. ICM managers do not easily come togrips with the bigger picture on this scale. However, for educational purposes, this isa very important issue to address in understanding the "eld of ICM and its role withinthe broader environment and development process. It also raises questions as to howto approach mega-problems, such as protection of the marine environment frompollution from land-based activities,9 and the need for regional ICM cooperationmuch along the lines of the UNEP Regional Seas Program, but with a somewhat lessmarine spatial bias.

Thus the ICM "eld has no "xed contours, and the educator should approach the"eld in search of frontiers, rather than boundaries. The proble&matique is characterizedby diversity (multiplicity of actors, values and interests), complexity (varying degreesof interactions among actors, values and interests) and elasticity (interactions occur-ring in di!ering spatial and functional dimensions, directly or indirectly), depending

A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359 347

Page 6: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

10This author concedes that in political systems where decision-making is highly centralized or verticalat di!erent levels, management will connote something closer to a command-control or regulatoryapproach that indicated in the text of this paper.

on the speci"c problems to be addressed. Integration is goal, process as well as output.It is di$cult to achieve the kind of focus which helps direct attention at problems,without being exclusionary of relevant concerns in this "eld. Realistically, however, aneducator needs to employ (contextualized) problem-oriented approaches to the build-ing of a learning environment.

The notion of `managementa in ICM is loosely used in the literature in ways thatsuggest the maintenance of order through the exercise of control in the coastal zone.Interestingly, in the presence of diverging use of titles for this "eld, `managementa isperhaps the most persistent word in all the names used. Yet, the expectations that thisword raises vary substantially, mostly as a result of disciplinary connotations orobjectives. Thus for an engineer, management may be expected to a suggest systemsapproach to a problem. For someone with a business management backgroundentering the ICM "eld, `managementa might suggest the control of personnel timeand expenditures/purchases in a market environment. For a person with a militarybackground, `managementa suggests a command-control scenario, and the absenceof that capability would suggest the absence of management. And yet management inan ICM context is di!erent in terms of objectives, tools and processes, and where the`controla element is less certain, the interactions between users, values and interestsare frequently less than systematic, where one hardly exercises any control overcommunities, and the dynamics of ecosystems are poorly or insu$ciently understood,let alone controlled. In an educational context, students will expect that `manage-menta skills can be acquired, and an educator will be hard pressed to de"ne whatkind of `managementa skills ought to be addressed, given the wide-rangingexpectations.

In an ICM context, one's understanding and advocacy of management will bein#uenced by values and interests one holds, or of the political system one lives in. Tothis author, management is "rst and foremost a knowledge-building process,aimed at depth of understanding of a multi-dimensional problem, avoiding anyquick "x or intervention, anticipating possible or likely impacts and hopes toexercise in#uence rather than control over human behaviour.10 At this conceptuallevel, ICM proposes `soft,a rather than `harda management. In this sense its clo-sest kin is environmental management. The notion of management has attimes encouraged environmental managers to borrow `managementa language fromother disciplines, such as `auditinga and `accounting,a but in reality the type ofexercises implied by these terms in an environmental context are less precise than thelanguage suggests. It is true that the ICM manager, like the environmental manager,may have certain tools in his/her arsenal, such as regulatory and zoning instruments.But anyone working with coastal communities and their relationship with a resourcebase will know that the psychology of communities is quite di!erent from that ofa market, a "rm, the military, or any group of persons in an organized group, and

348 A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359

Page 7: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

11Much of the ICM literature is in English, and those working in other languages need to take care in theuse of equivalent concepts, or combination of concepts. The English use of the same word carries di!erentmeanings in di!erent contexts. Other languages may use an array of words to distinguish between di!erentmeanings, e.g.: French: gestion, direction, administration, and probably also ame&nagement, although thisconnotes planning; Spanish: administracio& n, dirrecio& n, gerencia, gobierno, and manejo. The Spanishword ordenamiento does not translate well into English, as it implies ordering, or arranging, as well aszoning.

compliance cannot be e$ciently, e!ectively and equitably induced by regulation orzoning alone!

The problem of understanding the concept of management in an ICM context,vis-a-vis other disciplines may be further compounded when the discourse spillsacross di!erent languages.11

However, the educator must address other practical `managementa tools which thestudent will expect to acquire, in addition to ICM "eld de"nition and functions.Motivated by employment concerns, students will expect and bene"t from informationmanagement (including research skills, but especially GIS and the capability to slice andlayer data, and to interpret them), personnel management (e.g., team-building, leader-ship), project management (i.e., managing the project cycle), and so on. Naturalscientists will also expect quantitative skills as part of the management package. Hereagain the multi-disciplinary character of ICM will draw on business management andmathematics (statistics) to equip managers with useful skills and tools.

Perhaps a more recent characteristic of management in an ICM context is process.Recent literature has highlighted the importance of community-based or co-manage-ment approaches as alternatives or complements to government-led ICM at a localscale. This has added something else to ICM, which it may not have had in the 1970s:the importance of inclusive participation in the management process for the sake ofequity, e$ciency, e!ectiveness and ultimately compliance. Governments will continueto play a central role, but not necessarily the exclusive planning role that character-ized early e!orts in ICM. Governments will continue to have a leading governancerole, but in exercising that role they are also facilitators in achieving arrangementsthat users lend their support to and perhaps in which they have a stewardship role toplay. In this sense, the government-employed coastal manager may play ratherimportant roles as communicator and `honest (although not necessarily disinterested)broker.aThe manager should be able to, at a minimum, identify values and interests atstake, and facilitate their inclusion in a decision-making process, and in appropriatecases, con"gure ways for active participation by interested parties. Process needs to beaddressed again as a critical element in program development.

3. Critical elements of the 5eld in program development

Flowing from the complex character of this "eld of knowledge are several criticalelements that an educator needs to address in an ICM program, which provide bothopportunities and challenges in creating a learning environment. The author proposesfour of these for discussion. Ignoring these factors may pose risks of irrelevance, but in

A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359 349

Page 8: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

addressing them the educator needs to exercise caution in the interests of relevance,consistency and coherence.

3.1. Context

The "rst is context. ICM, as a "eld of knowledge, is context-sensitive, in terms ofenvironmental/ecological, socio-economic and political factors. One must beware ofattempts at over-conceptualization and generalization outside of the context of theactual implementation area. ICM as a "eld of knowledge does not necessarily bene"tfrom the conceptual rigour of a discipline, irrespective of application. The coastalmanager is concerned with the environmental and ecological stage, whether it istropical, subtropical, or other. What is possible in a northern environment may not bepossible in a tropical environment, and vice versa. In "sheries, for instance, singlespecies models developed in a northern environmental scenario are rather unhelpfulfor multi-species tropical "sheries management. Similarly from a socio-economicperspective, the level of well being of coastal communities and their interests may varysubstantially from area to area, frequently even in the same country. Abject povertyand resource degradation in one area has to be approached quite di!erentlyfrom a better-o! area. Poverty alleviation and alternative source of employmentmay be high priorities in the former. Likewise with political considerations,where vertical decision-making approaches may work in some countries, but notin others. Thus the South Korean approach for ICM is necessarily di!erent fromthat of the numerous co-management initiatives in the Philippines. The educatorhas to be concerned with environment and culture, and the inherent diversitywithin each from area to area and in the relationship between the two. In e!ect,the educator will need to develop a curriculum that equips the student with a know-ledge base and skills that will enable him/her to craft their own approaches andtools with reference to the problems they are dealing with. Thus, in the opinionof this author, the comparative element in a program (i.e., `examples, experiences,case studies from other countriesa) should be carefully used not to advocate thesolution per se, but rather to analyse and assess the application of a knowledge core,concepts and tools in the process of managing a problem in a de"ned context.Otherwise, there is a danger of misleading students to the conclusion that there aresolutions to generic types of problems by simply transporting experiences fromelsewhere in the world.

3.2. Inter-disciplinarity

Students generally come into a graduate ICM program with a "rst degree drawingheavily on one or more disciplines, depending on the courses taken at the undergrad-uate level, what they major in and area of honours essay (or thesis). Most will comewith a multi-disciplinary appreciation of issues. The graduate program would need tofocus that multi-disciplinary interest on the proble&matique, and at the same timeprovide a space in the core curriculum for an inter-disciplinary education. The two,i.e., multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches are complementary. Nor do, or should,

350 A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359

Page 9: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

Table 1Relationships between disciplines

Type of relationshipamong disciplines

Disciplineperspective(s)

Discipline-basedmethodologies

Result

Multi-disciplinary Separate perspectives Separate researchmethodology and writing

Separate chapters on biol-ogy, economics and anthro-pology in the book

Inter-disciplinary Blended, but identi"-able perspectives

Coordinated researchmethodology and writing

Separate or common chap-ter in the book, with disci-plines still identi"able

Cross-disciplinary Common, uniqueperspective

Common, uniquemethodology and writing

Common chapters that tendto be more thematic andless identi"able in terms ofdiscipline

these two approaches displace discipline-based knowledge, for the latter providessingular depth which is still needed in the ICM knowledge mosaic. Again, in thisauthor's view, disciplinary depth complements multi-disciplinarity (i.e., vertical depth ina number of disciplines) and inter-disciplinarity (horizontal layering across disciplines).

It is not easy to de"ne inter-disciplinarity. This writer prefers to distinguishbetween multi-, inter- and cross-disciplinarity, using the relationship between per-spectives and methodologies of the disciplines concerned as criteria for distinctionbetween the types of relations among disciplines in knowledge-building in relation toa common issue area.

A multi-disciplinary relationship involves minimal interaction between disci-plines, as in the case of an anthology of studies in which each individual authorsimply makes a uni-disciplinary contribution. The territorial (i.e., disciplinary)claims of the authors do not overlap. In ocean management, this may take theform of separate studies by economists and biologists on the impact of land-based sources of pollution on the uses of the coastal zone.

An inter-disciplinary relationship involves considerable interaction which mayresult in a give-and-take process between two or more given disciplines. Retain-ing their respective disciplinary perspectives, there is nonetheless a convergenceof methodologies. There is bound to be a territorial overlap, and in a successfulinter-disciplinary pursuit, symbiosis results. The objective is a holistic, or multi-dimensional, view of the problem in question. In ocean management, an envir-onmental impact assessment may be said to partake of this type of relationship.

A cross-disciplinary relationship is one which involves the highest level ofinteraction between two or more disciplines in terms both of methodology andapproach. A synthesis ensues, which may well lead to the emergence of a newdiscipline, as in the case of marine geodesy or regional science, which draws onolder discipline to provide the premises for innovation [7].

Graphically (Table 1), the relationship between the three can be described withreference to the following example of a collaborative research and writing e!ort of

A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359 351

Page 10: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

a book on "sheries management involving a biologist, an economist and an anthro-pologist:`Disciplinaritya and its derivatives (multi-, inter-, cross-) de"ne intellectual stand-

points. It is important for the educator to be conscious of his/her standpoint, and thealternative paths that curriculum development may take. This writer is of the opinionthat ICM curricula must be both multi- and inter-disciplinary in the above senses. It isunlikely that ICM will develop in a cross-disciplinary manner, because of its characteras a "eld, rather than a discipline, drawing on diversity of knowledge rather than ondisciplinary development.

3.3. Integration

There is an inherent logic in the integrated approach, which is a strength as much asa weakness for management purposes. It is much touted as a principle of sustainabledevelopment, and it has been preached for a number of purposes, including coherentpolicy-making, as a way of promoting inter-institutional coordination, as a tool inplanning and management, as a way of looking at the continuity of space, the need tolook at ecosystems and ecosystemic approaches to resource management, and so on.Integration presupposes a multi-dimensional approach, a search for all the cogs in thewheel so that the management decision is ostensibly relevant, e$cient, and hopefullyequitable and e!ective in result. Integration has reinforced the problem-orientedapproach, i.e., in the sense of an approach that looks at a problem with all itscomponent issues, in context. No one has questioned the validity of the need forintegration.

But despite its obvious usefulness, is there a danger that integration may lead to anendless process that will de"ne and re-de"ne a problem beyond what is realisticallymanageable? Three simpli"ed examples in an ICM serve to identify the `integrationparadox.a Brie#y stated, there is a curve in terms of increasing complexity which thecoastal manager can handle e!ectively at present times, and beyond which increasedintegration will have the reverse e!ect, i.e., ine!ective e!ort.

Example 1. In addressing marine pollution from land-based activities, the coastalmanager needs to consider point and non-point sources, watershed (as a transporta-tion system), as well as uses of, at a minimum, of inshore waters (presumably for healthpurposes). In order to do this e!ectively, the manager has to consider all agricultural,urban and industrial activities on the entire watershed (which would include water-courses, surface waters generally and ground waters, at a minimum). The activitiesmay be enormously diverse, as well as extensive. The watershed may extend overhundreds of kilometres, and in the case of international watercourses, also intoneighbouring countries. The nature of the problem has now become (or was always inany case!) more than an ICM problem, beyond the realm and capabilities of thecoastal manager.

Example 2. In addressing "sheries management the 1984 FAO Fisheries Managementand Development Conference advocated an ecosystemic approach [7]. Indeed, there

352 A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359

Page 11: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

has been reference to ecosystemic "shing! This approach suggests that the "shinge!ort is not so much the "shing of a stock, but rather the taking of (a) species from anecosystem at a particular moment in time. Clearly, stock collapses have led toecosystemic change. The challenge for the manager in relation to a "shery, or for thatmatter in relation to any resource, is how to de"ne the boundaries of the relevantecosystem at a su$cient level of comfort before other interdependencies haveto be factored. The logic of integration will suggest identi"cation of all ecosys-temic interdependencies, but at what level and on the basis of what criteria do youstop?

Example 3. What are the limits to addressing socio-economic considerations,i.e., the human dimension to management that has to be factored into ICM thinking?Again, in assessing the economics of coastal and ocean activities, where does onebegin, and stop? Human activities in the coastal zone are necessary extensionsof a larger economy and a wider population beyond that which lives in theimmediate coastal area. In relation to several important uses (e.g., tourism andmarine transportation), the activities in the coastal area are part of much largerand complex phenomena. Decisions on tourist destinations are more likely thoseof tour operators in distant countries than those of decision makers in hostcountries. Marine transportation, on the other hand, is a global activity, and themost the coastal manager can hope to address is part of the infrastructure in theimmediate trading region and, if capabilities are in place, monitoring of operationalconcerns.

These are but three di!erent problems that illustrate the di$culties with the logic ofintegration. They all show the pervasiveness of complexity while at the same timeillustrating the limitations of coastal management. The manager faces a contradiction.On the one hand, integration is a necessary objective, process and result. On the otherhand, and this is where the contradiction lies, the manager needs managementboundaries around his/her problems. If the latter were not the case, coastal manage-ment would be impossible.

The educator has to grapple with this paradox in curriculum development. The `bigpicturea will be essential for students to fully appreciate the complexity of sustainabledevelopment. And yet, the educator needs to communicate realistic (in the sense ofworkable) approaches to planning and management. This is where the bene"ts ofzoning with well set objectives as a planning tool should receive particular attention,but within the context of the bigger picture, in the interests of coherency andconsistency with overall management goals. At the applications stage, theproble&matique should be approached in manageable chunks!

3.4. Process

So far, process in decision-making in ICM has been referred to only in a genericsense. Process can be as much the medium as the message. ICM is not exclusivelya problem-avoidance, management or solving exercise. It is also process, i.e., aparticular way of avoiding, managing or solving problems in coastal areas. The

A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359 353

Page 12: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

integrated and inter-disciplinary approach has been described above. ICM is alsoabout inclusion of interests, and depending on the particular context, this may rangefrom a passive inclusion of interests by a decision maker, to consultation of stake-holders, to actual participation by stakeholders in the making of decisions. In somecountries, as noted earlier, there are even examples of the stakeholders themselvesactually making ICM decisions at the local level, with government playing a facili-tative or no formal role! From this perspective, ICM can be described as a `systema of`governancea that will demand inclusive rather than exclusive decision-making. Theprocess of decision-making is in itself a message to stakeholders, that may engage ordisengage constituencies, which may facilitate or undermine compliance.

4. The learning arena

The #uidity of the "eld and the di$culties inherent in some of its basic conceptsdescribed above create a considerable challenge for curriculum development and thecreation of an appropriate learning environment in the classroom, especially inrelation to core (required) courses. For educational programs, the classroom, as thelearning arena, is the ultimate test of how well the ICM "eld is addressed andcomplexities approached by the instructor(s).

4.1. Objectives

As in all educational programs, there must be a clear set of intellectual objectives.But unlike discipline-based programs where the intellectual output is predictable,inter-disciplinary programs have an additional onus in addressing intellectual expec-tations. The diversity which will be introduced into the classroom must be funnelledinto a set of challenging objectives (i.e., to challenge the student to import his/herdisciplinary knowledge and interests and be prepared to contribute to the building ofa diverse knowledge base that will include disciplines alien to him/her). The diversitywill be disconcerting for anyone, unless it is clear what purposes it is supposed toachieve. The curriculum must transcend intellectual territoriality (for disciplinaryterritoriality is one of the principal problems constraining the development of anintegrated approach).

At a minimum, there should be three major sets of objectives: academic, profes-sional and personal, with a clear sense of program outputs (i.e., what will the studentacquire and how to apply it at the end of the program). Academic objectives willobviously concentrate on the extent and type of knowledge of the "eld the student willacquire in a multi- and inter-disciplinary environment. Professional objectives shouldaim at skill-sets useful for planning and management that the student should take withhim/her, depending on the area of marine a!airs he/she expects to work in. Personalobjectives should refer to the type of experience the student will acquire, and whichwill in#uence the way in which the alumnus/alumna will work. This may sound tritefor educators, but the objectives should inculcate a sense of humility in undertakingthe degree program! There will not be easy solutions based on models or formulae.

354 A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359

Page 13: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

Students will quickly experience discomfort with certain disciplines (e.g., social sciencestudents without a quantitative background in dealing with marine science courses,and vice versa; marine science students in handling qualitative approaches to re-search) and the complexity of the problems they have to understand. There is alwaysthe risk of feeling overwhelmed and retreating into one's own shell (withdrawalsymptoms!). The psychology of inter-disciplinarity requires humility, an open mindand perseverance.

4.2. A balance between knowledge and skills?

ICM programs are rarely pure academic programs. Depending on the particularapproach of the university concerned, they range between the academic (similar todegrees in the arts and sciences) and professional (similar to degrees at professionalschools or disciplines, such as business management, law and engineering). The lattertend to emphasize the applications side more than the theoretical knowledge core.Both approaches can be appropriate for the particular work arena the graduates willbe going to.

A principal concern in curriculum development is the core and its instructors, asthese will help de"ne what the program is and does. There is not as much concern withelectives (i.e., courses of choice) which the student may take to gain depth in particularsectors and disciplines. There are two realities to contend with in core curriculumdevelopment: the curriculum itself and the instructors that will deliver it. More will besaid about faculty below, but in an ideal setting, it is helpful to have the same facultydevelop and deliver the curriculum, so that the delivery is not at odds with what wasoriginally intended. For this reason, it is useful to regard curriculum development asan ongoing process, whereby the teaching faculty is constantly servicing a highmaintenance curriculum. On the substantive side of curriculum development, theeducational backgrounds of the developers will in#uence the content, how the "eld isde"ned and which problems are looked at, and what are considered relevant perspect-ives and methodologies. There will be discussion on how much science is appropriateand/or whether the program should lean more towards a humanistic approach. Thereality is that both the humanities (the users, for after all management is about humanbehaviour) and natural sciences (the ecosystemic context and the resources that will betaken) are needed, again in the interests of integration. There is no general answer towhat is an appropriate balance for a particular program, except with reference to thecontext of that program and where graduates are going to work.

There are certain things that the student needs to know about the "eld, irrespectiveof context. The student needs to understand how to de"ne the planning and manage-ment context; what ecosystems are and how they function; the impact (direct andcumulative) of human intervention in ecosystems (interactions); how to diagnosecon#icts and address accommodation of divergent and convergent uses; what thebasic principles of sustainable development and ICM are, their limitations andpossible applications in di!erent settings; the relationship between science, othersources of knowledge and decision-making; and so on. Then there are things that thestudent also needs to know which will be shaped by context, such as values, interests

A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359 355

Page 14: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

and criteria to be applied in resource access; extent of and criteria for participation indecision-making, if any; regional and local environmental/ecosystemic realities; andso on.

On the skill side, planned work destination is again relevant. At a minimum,however, the student should ideally develop various skills that include problemanalysis and assessment (learn how to anticipate, prevent and respond); con#ictmanagement (with possible exposure to alternative con#ict management techniques,such as negotiation, mediation and conciliation); communications management; or-ganization capabilities; team-building and leadership; fact-"nding and basic quantit-ative and qualitative research; basic GIS; project management; and so on. A criticalskill set which is less easy to teach is interpersonal skills.

4.3. Methodology: generating the learning environment

To address the diversity and complexity described earlier, the instructor shouldplay the role of facilitator in creating an appropriate learning environment in class. Inthis author's opinion, there are two traditional educational tools which are notappropriate (in terms of e$ciency and e!ectiveness) for ICM learning, namely lectur-ing and textbook teaching. The lecture mode may be suitable for large undergraduateclasses where disciplinary cores are inculcated, but it is hardly challenging (if one ofthe objectives is to challenge students). Moreover, lecturing emphasizes hierarchy ofpower within the classroom, whereas with the diversity of the student body andcurriculum, exactly the opposite is appropriate, i.e., a less centralized approach to thegeneration of knowledge in the classroom so that students can indeed bring out thefull diversity of the "eld by contributing their individual strengths. It is for this reasonthat the instructor should play the role of facilitator, in order to help create anenvironment that encourages, rather than discourages, di!erent contributions todiversity!

Similarly, although a well-organized book on ICM is a useful tool, textbookteaching is not. Textbook teaching, while appropriate for speci"c issue-areas withina discipline, does not do justice to the diversity inherent in the "eld and nor helps tocreate a fruitful ICM learning environment. Textbook teaching may mislead studentsin terms of approaches to problem-solving. By de"nition, the contextual nature ofICM de"es textbook discussion and consequent solution, as every managementsituation is likely to be di!erent from the next. As such, in developing the knowledgeand skill core referred to above, students need #exibility in the learning process inanticipating, diagnosing and responding to problems. Perhaps a more amenableapproach to this "eld is the casebook approach, which is more problem-oriented. Inusing the casebook approach, one must be wary that cases are not used to generalizethe application out of context. Casebook teaching in business management, law andmedicine may be easier in this regard, as the case can indeed highlight general rules orrecommended practices. Further, it is not reasonable to expect a textbook or a case-book to provide su$cient learning material for all possible ICM contexts. In e!ect,the instructor will "nd that he/she will still need to develop his/her own teachingmaterials, even when textbooks, casebooks or manuals are available.

356 A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359

Page 15: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

Methodology in core courses in a small class setting (15}20 students) has a key roleto play, and the instructor can use this creatively to play a facilitative role. Theinstructor should de"ne his/her own standpoint, be aware of his/her bias, and notallow these to overshadow the multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary environmentof the classroom. The instructor should aim at initially preparing the students for theinter-disciplinary experience through an exercise in disciplinary consciousness. Stu-dents must be aware where they are coming from and what intellectual baggage theybring with them, before they can really understand where they should be going.Ideally, this should be followed not by the instructor `teachinga the inter-disciplinaryapproach, but rather by a collective process whereby the student body, as guided bythe instructor, identi"es a problem and blends perspectives and methodologies to crafttheir inter-disciplinary approach. In this sense, the inter-disciplinary approach is acollective functional (it can be crafted in relation to a problem) exercise. This exerciseis best served by a "eld component, in which students have to undertake visualobservations and engage in other information retrieval techniques (e.g., research andinterviews).

There is no one methodology that will suit all knowledge-building and skillneeds. Con#ict management, for instance, will require a di!erent approach, wherethe instructor plays an even smaller role in the classroom than the seminar-cum-"eld exercise. Interactive role-playing techniques have been shown in practice tobe extremely e!ective techniques in providing students with a lasting learningexperience. It is possible to simulate many scenarios, either hypothetically orwith a high degree of real-life experience. Whatever the approach, the instructor'srole should be limited to the design, brie"ng and debrie"ng of the exercise. Theparticipation of the student body is maximized by taking out the hierarchical role ofthe instructor completely from the classroom. In essence, the role-playing simulationrecreates a complete social interaction in a given issue area, in the classroom,much as an experiment unfolds under controlled conditions in a laboratory. Thecomplexity of the "eld and problems within it is matched by the complexity ofhuman problem-solving processes. This vehicle enables the instructor to addressseveral objectives, program content and skill-sets at the same time, in a realisticenvironment.

There are numerous ways how the classroom and the "eld can be creatively linked.The University of Guadalajara (Autlan/Melaque)'s ICM diploma program will in-clude an exercise in Tomatlan with reference to actual and current inter-communitycon#icts, which will be performed partly in class and partly in the "eld. Communityrepresentatives will help brief the students, and the students will eventually have tocomplete and present a study before government o$cials acting as the real-lifemediators. Students thus experience an actual con#ict management process and getan opportunity at exploring potential guidelines for management themselves. Sim-ilarly in Halifax Harbour, Dalhousie's Marine A!airs Program requires small studentgroups to survey the uses, con#icts and institutional responsibilities through "eldvisits and interviews, which are then reported in class for comparative analysisand discussion among di!erent groups. The complexity of coastal and oceans uses,and their interactions, comes to life as students experience it by observing it directly.

A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359 357

Page 16: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

12For these reasons, it is important to think of the team's collective and individual expertise amongfaculty instructors to cover the principal areas of the "eld. There will be a collective learning e!ort whichwill run from one academic year to another that can be best serviced and supported by professionaldevelopment activities for faculty.

4.4. The program faculty

Perhaps one of the most challenging tasks in program development is the multi-disciplinary faculty team that is ready to work in an inter-disciplinary context. Thereare again a number of factors that need to weighed, as the quality and commitment ofthe team will mean the di!erence between creativity and mediocrity.

First, "nding faculty commitment to inter-disciplinarity is di$cult. A major di$-culty that many universities face is their own internal tenure structure and process,encouraging disciplinarity (purity of research within one's own disciplines, especiallyin the marine sciences) and penalizing excursions outside one's own discipline. Theultimate e!ect is to create a discouraging environment for young untenured scholarsto make a commitment to an inter-disciplinary program.

A second factor is the strength of the university concerned. Given that ICM asa "eld has many potential disciplinary entry points, it is logical to expect thata university will build a program on the basis of its particular strengths and interestedparties on campus. In the long-run, however, it is important for that university topromote a diverse mix of disciplines, and consequently faculty instructors, toensure relevance and realism in approaching the "eld. For instance, DalhousieUniversity used law as an entry point (similarly to the current initiative of theNational University of Vietnam), but clearly this discipline is only part of a largermosaic. The disciplinary entry point should allow su$cient #exibility to ensuremulti-disciplinary participation. The Marine A!airs program at Dalhousie eventuallymoved from the Faculty of Law to the Faculty of graduate Studies, which is anadministrative unit cutting across all faculties and departments. In developing theirICM program initiative, the Universities of Cienfuegos, Havana and Oriente willlikewise need to ensure broad departmental participation. For this purpose, Cien-fuegos and Oriente placed the ICM initiative under a Vice-Rector. Havana's orig-inates in the marine sciences, but is likewise considering multi-departmental inputs.Again, the University of the Philippines (Visayas) initiated its Marine A!airs Programat the College of Fisheries, but multi-departmental inputs were factored in from thebeginning.

Third, a faculty team needs to mature as a group before their instruction in thiscomplex "eld starts to become e!ective. An instructor is likely to experience intimida-tion in the teaching of the core program. As described above, the diversity of the "eldis a major challenge in itself, but in addition to this, there is likely to be widedisciplinary diversity and accompanying expectations in the classroom. This is a rea-son why a team is preferable to individual instructors in core courses. ICM teachingfrequently requires the presentation of a multitude of disciplinary perspectives, beforeinter-disciplinary linkages can be brought out [8].12

358 A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359

Page 17: Teaching integrated coastal management: lessons from the learning arena

5. Conclusion

ICM programs are not easy to develop. It has been seen how the exercise ofprogram and curriculum development has to contend with numerous challenges,most notably "eld de"nition, breadth and complexity of problems, appropriate multi-and inter-disciplinary perspectives and methodologies, composition of program fac-ulty, handling of diversity of curriculum and student composition, and participativeapproaches to learning. The ICM learning arena is intimidating for student andinstructor alike. Universities need to create an environment that facilitates this type ofprogram.

These challenges are not unique to ICM programs, but rather are common withinter-disciplinary programs generally, such as those in health, gender and develop-ment studies. And yet universities have to contend with the growth in demand forinter-disciplinary programs as our societies, their activities and impacts on theenvironment are becoming increasingly complex and beyond the reach of any oneindividual discipline. The ivory tower risks obsolescence as universities are draggedinto `"eld thinking.a Universities have to respond to this increasing intellectualcomplexity by re-inventing problem-oriented educational programs across institu-tional lines and start to practise the integration they preach. Fortunately, there isrecognition of this in many universities around the world, perhaps creating a criticalmass and this bodes well for ICM program development.

References

[1] Cicin-Sain B, Knecht RW. Integrated coastal and ocean management: concepts and national practices.Washington: Island Press, 1998.

[2] Kay R, Alder J. Coastal planning and management. New York: Chapman & Hall, 1998.[3] Clarke JR. Integrated management of coastal zones (FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 327) Rome: FAO,

1992.[4] Hohmann H, editor. Basic documents of international environmental law. London: Graham & Trot-

man, 1992. p. 21.[5] United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982. In The law of the sea. New York: United

Nations, 1983. p. 1.[6] Braudel F. A history of civilizations. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. p. xvii}xviii[7] Chircop A. Cooperative regimes in ocean management: a study in Mediterranean regionalism. JSD

Dissertation, Dalhousie Law School, Halifax, Canada, 1988. p. 5}8.[8] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Report of the FAO World Conference on

Fisheries Management and Development. Rome: FAO, 1984. p. 18.

A. Chircop / Ocean & Coastal Management 43 (2000) 343}359 359