Abstract
Adaptive management has recently emerged as a paradigm for coastal management, yet little attention has been focussed on mechanisms crucial to its success. Social learning-learning on the part of communities, scientists, decision-makers and institutions-underpins the continuation of an adaptive management cycle. While there are exceptions, coastal research and management frameworks continue to be ominated by issue-specific focusses with little innovation in the mechanisms to build long-term management capacity and create a social culture of sustainability. In order to learn from coastal management, in terms of both failures and successes, a commitment to social learning must occur. A contextual learning framework can be used as a mechanism for facilitating and measuring ongoing learning for sustainable coastal management. Embedding such a framework within coastal management organisations and groups would facilitate the institutionalisation of adaptive learning for coastal management.