1. ICZM Assistant Powered by SUSCOD
Member State Expert Group Maritime Spatial Planning –
Integrated Coastal Management
2 July 2013, Brussels
Lilian Bernhardi, Province of Noord-Holland
Thank you for having us here
Introduce yourself and your organization: Lilian Bernhardi, province of Noord-Holland, the Netherlands, PNH is lead partner of the SUSCOD project (stand for Sustainable coastal development in practice), I’m the project manager. My colleague is Alexandra Benning who is also working on the project.
Explain why you are giving this lecture: I would like to explain to you what the SUSCOD project is all about, its link to ICZM, and what the results are.

2. Background & aims SUSCOD Partners Outputs/deliverables ICZM Assistant
Contents
Background & aims SUSCOD
Partners
Outputs/deliverables
ICZM Assistant
In this presentation I would like to tell you about:

3. 1. Background & aims SUSCOD
Goal: fully utilize opportunities for coastal development + gain support for ICZM
Supported by INTERREG IVB NSR programme
In May 2002 the EU Council and Parliament adopted 8 principles of good ICZM.
In 2009 a proposal for the SUSCOD project was issued with the INTERREG IVB NSR programme, which aims “to make the North Sea region a better place to live work and invest in” a.o. through promoting the sustainable management of our environment. The SUSCOD initiative is supported by funding from the INTERREG IVB NSR programme and has strong relation to the 8 ICZM principles:
The North Sea regions all face similar coastal issues relating to climate change and coastal development. The urgency to act in coastal areas at risk offers good opportunities to better perform for (regional) authorities and to bring ICZM into practice. That is why regions in Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands joined forces in the SUSCOD project, to share and gain knowledge and to learn about solutions applying the 8 ICZM principles in policy making and projects. One of the SUSCOD project goals is to spread ICZM related knowledge, and to inspire project leaders, policy makers and water professionals who want to fully develop the unique potential of their coastal areas into vital and viable coasts, and to anticipate to the consequences of climate change.
Focus group SUSCOD: coastal professionals.
The project is finished this year.
KLAD: Project objectives
1 Exchange knowledge and expertise
2 Review ICZM implementation
3 Inventory ICZM tools
4 Development new ICZM assistant
5 Practicing and testing integrated development in pilot projects
6 Inspiration to other regions
7 Influence ICZM strategies
 € (50% ERDF funding from INTERREG)
Wij zijn onderscheidend door ons te richten op mensen die in de dagelijkse praktijk met kusten werken. Wij willen praktische tools geven en een platform en netwerk aanbieden waar je van kunt leren. Onze focus daarbij is hoe brengen we Brussels beleid naar de regio en het werkvloer, niet hoe beïnvloeden we het beleid in Brussel. We verbinden kennis mensen en documenten.
SUSCOD aims to make a step change in the application of ICZM. Central in SUSCOD is the development of a practical tool: the ICZM-assistant and its introduction to potential users and its demonstrated value at test locations.a concrete way of working with the 8 ICZM principles.

4. 2. Partners
Coastal Division of Flemish Ministry of Transport and Public Works (Belgium)
Essex County Council (UK)
Region Zealand (Denmark)
Fife Coast and Countryside Trust (Scotland, UK)
Flanders Hydraulics Research (Belgium)
Province of North-Holland (The Netherlands; lead partner)
City of Strömstad (Sweden)
There are different partners around the North Sea participating on different level, local, regional and national.
P1. Province of Noord-Holland, the Lead Beneficiary (Netherlands)
Netherlands Ministry of Transport Public Works and Water Management will be the subpartner of the Province of Noord-Holland. The ministry is responsible for the coastal defence system on national level.
P3. Fife Coast and Countryside Trust (Scotland, UK)
P4. The Coastal Division of Flemish Ministry of Transport and Public Works (Belgium)
sub partner Coordination Centre for Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Belgium is a cooperation of: Provincial Government of West Flanders, Flemish Government, Flanders Marine Institute and the Federal Public Service for Public Health, Safety of the Food chain and Environment.
P5. Flanders Hydraulics Research (Belgium)
P6. Region Zealand (Denmark) comprises 17 municipalities. Sub partners will be the Municipalities Lolland, Slagelse and Odsherred. Local Government Denmark being the local authority interest organization will provide assistance in the development process as sub partner.
P7. Municipality Strömstad (Sweden). Subpartners will be the municipalities Tanum, Sotenäs, Munkedal and Lysekil and the County Administration of Västra Göttaland.
P8. Essex CC (UK) is a county in the East of England

5. 3. Outputs/deliverables
1) Case studies and pilot projects
2) ICZM–Assistant
Main results of the project:
 - practising and testing ICZM principles in actual coastal locations that are at risk due to climate change (case studies).case studies give examples of innovative ways to implement the ICZM principles which have been used by the SUSCOD partners e e.g. how to achieve the long-term perspective for ICZM and how to interpret the natural processes in their cases. The SUSCOD partnership is a good platform for learning and exchange of experiences and good practices.
We all have different issues. E.g. in the Netherlands watersafety is the most important aspect. Our input in the project is focused on how to integrate also other interests in our plans and projects, like how to combine coastal safety with nature, recreation. In Essex for example, watersafety is not the first focus, but coastal erosion that threatens an historical tower. The erosion also gives some opportunities: rare fossils appear that attract scientists and other visitors to the coast. They therefor work on different initiatives like a visitor’s centre in Walton-on-the-Naze to support education and awareness raising along that stretch of coastline, and a walk along the erosion, they installed the Essex Coastal Forum that will support improved partnership working and best practice sharing between all stakeholders involved along the coastline of Essex. By doing so they try to secure all interests(recreational, safety, scientific). Projects in Sweden are focused sustainable development of the area, and promote all year housing. They work on a common blue/sea based comprehensive plan for all the five municipalities within north Bohuslän and A long term balanced sustainable development and growth of the north of Bohuslän.
In Belgium the showcases comprise An optimised safety design with regard to tourism for the protection of De Haan-Wenduine and Blankenberge marina.2 Implementation of the principles of ICZM for the pilot cases. 3 Lessons learned from the pilot cases to be implemented for the entire Belgian coastline 4 Tools on how to communicate the need and efficiency of coastal protection works towards non-experts.
KLAD:
In Noord-Holland wordt onder andere gewerkt aan het versterken van de identiteit van badplaatsen, waarbij de provincie samen met gemeenten, bewoners, ondernemers, bezoekers en deskundigen identiteitsprofielen opstelt die uniek zijn per kustgemeente. Doel is de economische positie van de Noord-Hollandse kustplaatsen te bepalen om die vervolgens, vanuit die identiteit, een kwaliteitsimpuls te kunnen geven.Daarnaast wordt het historisch bewustzijn bij inwoners van kustplaatsen vergroot. Onlangs is een rapport verschenen over ruimte voor recreatie langs de kust. De resultaten worden ook meegenomen in de nationale discussie over zandsuppleties.
Fife Coast and Countryside Trust: 1 Practical solutions to intractable coastal zone management issues at the local level, building support and confidence in the SUSCOD approach 2 A strong and enduring partnership of agencies and organizations to resource, implement and monitor the plans and projects 3 A substantive contribution to the ICZM Assistant 4 An interactive simulation and visualisation platform, allowing project partners to communicate the main features of project sites, the effects of climate change on the shoreline and hinterland, and the effects of alternative shoreline management measures.
Denmark: 1 Locate the key challenges in coastal zone management in relation to climate.2 Awareness of the expected effects of climate change such as sea level rise.3 Exchanging and integrating knowledge, expertise and experiences on ICZM implementation on a practical level.4 Innovative development of the ICZM-assistant in a national and transnational partnership.
- Results of the showcases are inserted in the ‘ICZM assistant’,.

6. 4a. ICZM Assistant www.ICZMassistant.eu
Visible part and result of the SUSCOD project
A web based tool
Assisting the coastal professional
ICZM principles brought into practice
Interconnecting Projects, Knowledge, People
To read more: >get our Brochure
The ICZM Assistant is a practical web based implementation tool that is widely applicable in coastal areas. The tool aims especially at (supporting) project leaders, policy makers and water professionals to integrate the ICZM principles in developing projects and plans, and therefore to achieve practical solutions that ensure integrated and sustainable social, economic and environmental development. in other words it helps practitioners in applying the ICZM principles in practice. With this tool one can assess the progress of their project at any stage in the development process, it helps to determine points of attention for the further integrated development of project and provides guidance during the actual development or implementation stages. On June the 18th the tool is launched, see Within the ICZM Assistant you can share and acquire knowledge and experiences from other (similar) projects around Europe.
It offers a database filled with relevant information about vital coasts.  the assistant is A means to get more transnational knowledge;It is a toolbox that helps you to solve your coastal issues;Reflection on your own project; You can also extend your network with relevant ‘colleagues’.
Using the ICZM Assistant is also recommended to NGO’s, engineering or consulting companies and interested citizens.
Assistant: Raise awareness for ICZM 2. Assessment: Assess your project: are you ICZM Proof? 3. Knowledge: Upload and download infomation on ICZM 4. Case studies: Share your best practises on ICZM 5. Community: Get in touch with coastal professionales around the North Sea area.
Within the Assistant you can fill out two different questionnaires to see where you stand on ICZM and which knowledge might need deepening: the ICZM Quick scan, and the ICZM Assessment.

7. 4b . ICZM Assistant ICZM Quick Scan ICZM Quick Scan
The quick scan is a brief questionnaire to get the goals of ICZM across in a way that is fun and easy. By answering ten illustrated questions, the ICZM Quick Scan shows you what kind of ICZM type you are and what you might need to improve to get even more ICZM experienced.

8. 4c. ICZM Assistant ICZM Assessment ICZM Assessment
The more extensive ICZM Assessment gives customised /tailormade information on how to improve a project or policy and how to apply the eight principles of ICZM.
With a list of questions, the ICZM Assessment identifies the strengths and weaknesses of your initiative and recommends helpful case studies, documents, web links and coastal professionals that will help your project become even more ICZM proof.

9. How does the ICZM Assistant work?
4d. ICZM Assistant
How does the ICZM Assistant work?
How does it work? => FILM

10. Get connected. Please register at www. iczmassistant
Get connected! Please register at and benefit from all functionalities!
Please register at As a registered member of the Assistant, you have access to all functionalities, which link you to relevant information and relevant people. Besides that you can upload documents, websites and case studies yourself from your own practice into the Assistant too. In this way we can learn from you as well!
invitation to register and upload
and to ask them to link the Assistant on their websites.

11. Finally: save the dates:
Belgium/Netherlands: September 16th, Ostend;
Denmark/Sweden: September 23rd, Copenhagen;
Essex/Fife: September 25th, Clacton;
End conference: November 6th, Amsterdam. 
Save the date(s)
To get across what the SUSCOD project is all about and to share the learnings from several (pilot) projects of the partner regions involved, three international conferences will be organized. Belgium and The Netherlands will kick off on September 16th, followed by Denmark and Sweden on September 23rd, and Essex and Fife on September 25th. These conferences will be converged into the end conference held in Amsterdam on November 6th. More information about the specific programmes will be shared with you in this newsletter.
Suscod ends this year, however de assistant remains, (Interreg agreement to keep it in the air for 2 more years). We are talking to DG Env to embed it in OURCOAST.

12. Questions. More information: Lilian Bernhardi bernhardil@noord-holland
Questions? More information: Lilian Bernhardi phone:
For more information about the SUSCOD project and the ICZMassistant.eu please contact Lilian Bernhardi (), phone:
=> Nog iets over na 2013/link to OURCOAST???
the PMG raised some questions that she will discuss with DG Environment:
• what after OURCOAST finished (regarding secure resources);
• what about the time frame after 2 years;
• obligations from our side?
Julian notices that we must also secure the obligation to have the website on air for two more years. What about the ownership? Lilian will ask Jeroen Casaer.
Action: ask DG Environment about ownership of the Assistant and secure the obligation to have the website on air for two more years (Provincie Noord-Holland).
Possibilities for SUSCOD after 2013
SUSCOD will be put on the ing list of OURCOAST , in this way the ICZM Assistant can be promoted.
A broad ‘holistic’ perspective (thematic and geographic)
A long term perspective (ensure that decisions taken today do not foreclose options for the future )
Adaptive management during a gradual process (integrated planning and management is a process that develops and evolves – good information provision is basis)
Reflect local specificity
Work with natural processes
Participatory planning
Support & involvement of all relevant administrative bodies
Use of a combination of instruments