Policy instruments for coastal management in Greece

Greece has the most extensive coastline among all Mediterranean countries and a large number of islands, some of which are quite small. Its coastal zone has significant value from both a socio-economic and ecological viewpoint. However, in the last decades the coastal zones face continuous deterioration, as a result of increasing pressures for development. The protection and proper management of coastal areas in Greece should be a priority. Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) offers a proper framework for organizing action in coastal areas in a broader framework of a strategy towards sustainable development. However, so far, coastal issues are dealt with in the context of general environmental protection and land-use planning policies. Recently a Special Framework for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development for Coastal Areas has been adopted to guide public policy, providing a policy platform towards ICZM. The article aims at an overview of existing policies, institutional arrangements and policy instruments vis-à-vis the problems of the Greek coastal areas. Special reference is made to the recent Special Framework, which is not yet implemented in an attempt to identify its strengths and weaknesses. These are examined against a background of recent developments at the EU level for ICZM along with the experience gained from initiatives at the national level

Tourism carrying capacity: Methodological considerations

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Introduction

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Tourism carrying capacity: Future issues and policy considerations

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The challenge of tourism carrying capacity assessment: Theory and practice

Planning and management for tourism growth is becoming essential in the context of sustainable development. Particularly so since many tourist destinations are facing severe pressures from tourist flows and activities. Such pressures are evidenced in terms of dysfunctions (congestion, environmental degradation, etc) which ultimately affect the attraction and competitiveness of tourism destinations. The development of tourism should be considered in accordance with sustainability principles. In this context respecting the capacity of the local system to sustain growth becomes a key challenge. This book examines the use of various tools to define, measure and evaluate tourism carrying capacity (TCC) - a tool aiming to impose limits for entering certain tourist destinations or using certain activities. Drawing on case studies from France, Spain, Italy, Greece, the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, Germany and Finland, it presents practical experiences of implementing TCC in various tourist destinations (i.e. historic towns, coastal zones, islands, etc). It draws conclusions regarding the measurement and implementation of TCC assessment and provides further guidelines towards a comprehensive methodological framework for assessing tourism sustainability in the future. © Harry Coccossis and Alexandra Mexa 2004. All rights reserved

Tourism carrying capacity: A theoretical overview

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Scenario tools for environmental planning. Supporting integrated coastal zone and water resources management in two Greek islands

This article critically examines the usefulness of scenarios in supporting environment-development planning, drawing from the experience of two differentiated case studies: integrated coastal zone in the Greek island of Rhodes (a country pilot project of the Coastal Area Management Programme implemented under the auspices of UNEP's Mediterranean Action Plan) and a more recent application on Integrated Water Resources Management in the Greek island of Naxos. In the first case, the expert-led scenarios have provided input to the formal spatial planning. They were constructed in a systematic manner, incorporating spatial particularities, adopting a top-down and a bottom-up approach. Scenarios for Rhodes explored future opportunities, constraints and threats arising from a variety of development-environment scenarios. In the case of Naxos, scenarios were developed through a participatory process. They described various political and economic futures for the island, focussing mainly on water resources management. The advantages and limitations from the different use of scenario method are discussed. Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Beyond the manual: Practicing deliberative visioning in a Greek island

Deliberative visioning refers to processes of inclusive, multi-stakeholder deliberation over a desirable future. Methodologies include scenario workshops, future searches and community visioning. This paper looks critically at the assumptions of deliberative visioning benefiting from a case study in Greece. We argue that there are fundamental choices to be made concerning how to frame the process, who to invite and how to facilitate it. These are not just a matter of following manuals' good practice guidance. We emphasize the need for epistemological and methodological awareness of: the assumptions which frame DV itself, the assumptions of the users of DV; and the situation in which DV is deployed. We find that whereas visioning motivates participants to work together and provides a good framework to systematize discussion, it is not necessarily effective for developing systemic perspectives and plan actions. This is especially true in contexts such as that of our case study, where there is lack of a collaborative culture and there are insufficient mechanisms that integrate effectively a deliberative process with other processes of policy or social change. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Participatory methods for water resources planning

The Water Framework Directive institutionalises participatory processes in river basin planning across the European Union. This paper reports on three case studies from southern Europe where conflicts over water exist. In each a different method for participation was experimentally employed: scenario workshops, mediated modelling, and social multicriteria evaluation. Scenario workshops and mediated modelling proved well suited to the early stages of a planning process (problem solving and identification of goals and alternatives) and to be good at educating participants and supporting capacity building. Their performance was less satisfactory with respect to resolving long-standing conflicts and achieving consensus. In comparison, social multicriteria evaluation was better able to address the evaluation of alternatives, reveal trade-offs, and aid convergence between divergent stakeholders' views, but it relied more heavily on experts and allowed less participation and deliberation in goal-setting than the other two methods. These results show complementarities amongst methods which imply that hybrid or combined approaches would be best for aiding the water planning process. They also reveal problems confronting the use of participatory approaches and constraints which prevent theoretical promise from being converted into practical results