Dissertation
Towards Adaptive Coastal Management Law: Lessons from Australia and Brazil
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25907/00062
Abstract
Adaptive management has long been promulgated as an appropriate approach to address the complexity and dynamics of social-ecological systems. This approach acknowledges that uncertainties will always exist in relation to these systems; therefore, management should be designed and implemented as a structured and iterative learning process through which management actions are assessed, selected, implemented, monitored, evaluated, and continuously adjusted in light of new information or change. Despite its deep theoretical basis, translating adaptive management into practice has proven to be a challenge. Within this context, there have been increased efforts in recent decades to answer more specific research questions on how to reduce legal constraints to adaptive management. Yet, research on how law may hinder or facilitate adaptive management is still limited in several natural resource management fields, including coastal management. Drawing on case studies of local government areas in Australia (Byron Shire, a local government area in the State of New South Wales) and Brazil (Florianópolis, a municipality in the State of Santa Catarina), this study addresses this gap by contributing to improved knowledge on the role of law in adaptive coastal management. Four specific objectives address this overall aim: (i) to examine the relationship between adaptive management of social-ecological systems and law; (ii) to analyse how adaptive management has been used for coastal management; (iii) to identify legal barriers to adaptive coastal management; and (iv) to propose directions for coupling adaptive coastal management and law. Guided by the interpretivist paradigm, research methods involved a qualitative content analysis of documents and semi-structured interviews of 50 key informants from four different stakeholder groups (government, non-government organisations, legal experts, and technical experts). Interview data was analysed in NVivo using an inductive thematic coding strategy.
Details
- Title
- Towards Adaptive Coastal Management Law: Lessons from Australia and Brazil
- Authors
- Miguel Franco Frohlich
- Contributors
- Tim Smith (Supervisor) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sustainability Research Cluster
- Awarding institution
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Degree awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- DOI
- 10.25907/00062
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99533108602621
- Output Type
- Dissertation
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