The coastal zone is a complex system. It links land and sea, is subject to intensive and multiple uses and shows ongoing concentration of population and economic development. At the same time the coastal zone is of outstanding ecological importance and natural beauty. Due to increasing conflicts and problems a sustainable development of coastal zones became a major issue during the last two decades. Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is devoted to this challenge. ICZM requires a profound scientific knowledge as well as a framework and tools for the management of these systems. Specially educated persons are required, which promote ICZM, serve as regional moderators, and act as links between stakeholders and the population. ICZM training and education became part of the university curriculum all over Europe. Authorities, coastal stakeholders and existing decision makers did not really benefit from this development. To attract this group and to provide an advanced training, online learning systems, like CoastLearn (www.coastlearn.org), were developed. The public interest in CoastLearn is sound, but the practical relevance and acceptance still minor. Major reasons are that no official accepted certificate is linked to it and that CoastLearn is hardly concrete enough to provide a practically and applicable knowledge. Background knowledge on the national framework, regulations and legislation for ICZM as well as concrete case studies are required. Further, the acceptance is higher, when an online learning system is provided in the national language. Against this background, a national German free of charge and open Internet platform for learning and teaching modules in German language, ikzm-d Lernen (www.ikzm-d), was established. This platform compiles different modules with relevance for the coast and ICZM. It further provides tools, which allow a fast development and provision of additional modules. For example, existing and successful case studies can be added and linked to modules, which impart knowledge on ICZM basics. A core module at the moment is ICZM (‘Integriertes Küstenzonenmanagement’) which was developed for the University of Rostock (http://www.ikzm-d.de/main.php). The online module is free of charge, but as a semi-annual study course with two semester periods per week (including online support, homework, a practical presence weekend in Rostock, final examination and certificate) a registration at Rostock University is necessary and tuition fee is charged. Further, the module ICZM is part of the Master of Arts distance learning study courses ‘Environmental protection’ and ‘Environment and Education’ at Rostock University. The link between online learning modules and traditional educational institutions as well as the possibility to obtain an advanced training certificate already attracts a larger group of interested persons and coastal stakeholders. We hope, the modules and the platform ‘ikzm-d Lernen’ help to promote the ideas of ICZM in Germany and are a useful supplement to international systems. |
