PhD Scholar
An investigation into decision-making and institutional arrangements for coastal planning and management.
E-mail: neil.lazarow@anu.edu.au

In an era of increasing emphasis of stakeholder engagement in environmental management, and of focus on the crucial importance of the marine coastal zone, the actual and potential role of marine and coastal communities and stakeholders has been little documented or analysed. Surfing is a major recreational and economic activity involving intimate human interaction with diverse coastal environments, and is expanding in intensity in traditional locations, involving environmental and social/cultural impacts, as well as in engagement with mitigating these impacts and the impacts of other human activities.

In recent years, there has been a sharp rise in the significance of organised groups within the surfing community in environmental and social advocacy and in processes of environmental policy and management. The groundswell for increased demands for public participation "has been attributed to (among other things) over-centralisation of government, the indifference and unresponsiveness of public authorities and perceptions of the state as an arm of business interests."

This study examines the impacts of surfing on local environments and the role of individual and especially organised surfers in shaping environmental perceptions, policy and management in specific locales. The aims of the research include the intellectual contribution of generating new insights to the existing public policy literature, better understanding of interactions within and between human and natural systems as well as to generate operational recommendations in coastal management in Australia and internationally.