Sustainability on the coast? By communication, not diktat

Nature protection organizations have apparently succeeded in focusing the attention of political and governing authorities which, finally, show a sustained attention for the coastal zones sustainable development. Attention stretches now beyond the now traditional concerns for the shoreline inland migration and the retreat of the coastal cliffs, and the loss of biodiversity. Today care encompasses similarly human occupance, user conflicts, fisheries and mining. These organizations go beyond academe et non-governmental cadres, such as one of the very sponsors of this seminar-the Malta-based International Ocean Institute-to encompass as well "big guns" among decision-makers, members of the political and cultural communities, and the quite influential UNESCO. Sustainability will be achieved through sustained communication, rather than through authorities' authoritarian fiats.