Bridging the End-user/Scientist gap in Integrated Coastal Zone Management by means of Environmental Education and Participatory Resource Management; Case study Thua Thien Hue

Abstract

With this master paper I wish the address the issue of knowledge sharing in Integrated Coastal Zone Management. The objective is to determine whether local knowledge from end-users is considered a valid source in the implementation and development of integrated coastal zone management programmes. This research starts from the idea that this knowledge is often lacking in these programmes and should be more integrated trough the use of environmental education and participatory resource management. The gap between end-user and managers/scientists leads to ineffective programmes and the techniques discussed in this paper are considered as the tools appropriate to address this gap. This Master Thesis is first researched by means of literature review and will be in later stages complemented by field research. The research is geographically scoped to Thua Thien Hue province in Viet Nam which will allow for a detailed illustration of the research objectives and results. The aim of the research is identify techniques from environmental education and participatory resource management which can become valid tools for ICZM. These techniques will be determined in participation with the different stakeholders and evaluated in relation to previous research. After a thorough literature review it can be concluded that there is definite need for further research. The concepts of environmental education and participatory research management have been previously linked to ICZM, they are however not used to their full potential. This paper hopes to bring a clear overview of the existing literature on integrated coastal zone management in relation to knowledge sharing by the usage of environmental education and participatory resource management.

Date of Award	30 Jun 2010
Original language	English
Supervisor	Luc Hens (Promotor) & Karl Bruckmeier (Co-promotor)