Towards adaptive coastal management law: Lessons from Australia and Brazil | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

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Towards adaptive coastal management law: Lessons from Australia and Brazil

Why did we undertake this study?

The interplay between adaptive management and law is not well understood, particularly in coastal management, and there have been calls for more case studies to explore legal frameworks across jurisdictions. We analysed if and how legal frameworks for coastal management facilitate or hinder adaptive management in Australia and Brazil.

How was it done?

We analysed documents (i.e. legislation, case law, management documents, and academic publications) and conducted 50 semi-structured interviews with key informants in Byron Shire (Australia) and Florianópolis (Brazil) to capture their perspectives on the legal barriers to adaptive coastal management.

What did we find?

Implications

Our proposed directions contribute to improved adaptive coastal management law by emphasising the need for an optimal balance between legal flexibility and legal certainty. Our research may also prove useful to other jurisdictions considering more adaptive approaches to coastal management.

Learn more

The full paper is available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106057

Citation: Frohlich, M, Smith, TF, Fidelman, P, Baldwin, C, Jacobson, C, Carter, RWB, 2022. ‘Towards adaptive coastal management law: Lessons from Australia and Brazil’, Ocean & Coastal Management 219, 106057.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects Funding Scheme (Project FT180100652) and a Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship. This work contributes to Future Earth Coasts, a Global Research Project of Future Earth. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government, Australian Research Council or Future Earth Coasts.