A methodological approach to be used in integrated coastal zone management processes: the case of the Catalan Coast (Catalonia, Spain)

Since early 1999, we have been working on an environmental information system as a preliminary phase to develop the National Strategy of the Catalan Coast. Using the tourism industry as the main pressuring driver and the municipality as the territorial unit, we have compiled a vast amount of information that has been converted into an information platform for the general public, politicians, and public administrators. Working in close co-operation with the planning authorities of the Generalitat of Catalonia, we developed decision support tools as a methodological approach for coastal management. The decision support system is composed by: (a) the development of an environmental indicator-based report; (b) the use of a geographical information system (GIS); and (c) the incorporation of different types of graphical packages. These tools have been applied to the 70 municipalities of the Catalan Coast and a specific development of the system was carried out in the region of La Selva, municipalities of Blanes, Lloret de Mar, and Tossa de Mar (southern Costa Brava, Girona). The system has been designed to help coastal managers in Catalonia, and it is thought to be used in the process of developing the National Strategy for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) of the Catalan Coast following the EC Recommendation (COM/00/545).