Coastal cultural heritage: A resource to be included in integrated coastal zone management Sorna Khakzad a, * , Marnix Pieters b , Koenraad Van Balen c a KU Leuven, 01 Arenberg Castle, RLICC Office, Heverlee 3001, Belgium b Flanders Heritage Agency, Maritiem en Onderwater Erfgoed, Phoenixgebouw, Koning Albert II-laan 19 Bus 5,1210 Brussel, Belgium c KU Leuven Department of Civil Engineering, Kasteelpark Arenberg 40 e Box, 2448, 3001 Leuven, Belgium article info Article history: Received 21 January 2015 Received in revised form 21 July 2015 Accepted 30 July 2015 Available online xxx Keywords: Coastal cultural heritage Integrated coastal zone management Marine spatial planning abstract Maritime and coastal cultural landscape, encompassing land and sea, and underwater is an important part of our cultural resources in the coastal areas. Although, integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) has theoretically addressed the importance of cultural ecosystems, cultural resources have mostly been overlooked in holistic coastal management plans. Overlooking cultural resources results in loss of cul- tural identity associated with certain habitats; loss of tourism, recreational and educational opportu- nities; decline in local ecological knowledge, skills and technology pertaining to habitat management; and loss of opportunities for social and cultural capital. Literature and practice show that there is no proper definition and evaluation of coastal cultural heritage is available and coastal cultural heritage has not been considered as a resource with high level of benefit for development and people. Acknowledging the importance of coastal cultural heritage as a resource in ICZM, and the role that ICZM can play in linking land and sea management approaches highlights the necessity of new methods for defining and evaluation of coastal cultural heritage. This paper proposes models and guidelines for defining and evaluating coastal cultural heritage to be included in Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and ICZM as a resource through application of the integrative complexity theory and learning from the experiences in management of other coastal resources. The results will be an integrative evaluation method and a guideline for delineating coastal cultural areas. The method and tool will be examined through the case of Ostend in Belgium. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Cultural Heritage is “that part of the past which we select in the present for contemporary purposes, be they economic, cultural, political, or social” (Graham, 2002). Human interaction with seas and oceans in the coastal areas influenced the natural landscape and has a crucial role in the formation of maritime and coastal cultural heritage. Maritime and coastal cultural heritage, encom- passing land and sea, and underwater, is an important part of our cultural resources and requires a proper valorization in order to play its role in sustainable development for poverty reduction, livelihood promotion, education, and environmental protection (Campbell, 2000; LGA report, 2002: 14), and helps to promote people's sense of identity and place attachment (Salmons, 2007). However, the task of including coastal cultural resources in holistic management plans of the coastal areas has been complicated by an array of natural, economic, social and political factors. Considering that holistic means that each element can receive its significance only by its position and relationship with the sur- rounding elements and multiple dimensions and control groups, the main objective of this research is to highlight the significance of coastal cultural heritage as a resource to be included in MSP and ICZM. The sub-objectives of this research are to offer: 1) a frame- work for balanced evaluation of coastal cultural heritage as a resource among other resources; and 2) a conceptual basis to define the area of cultural significance in the coastal areas. The framework consists of an interdisciplinary and integrative system for evalua- tion of coastal cultural heritage. The tool to define the area of coastal cultural heritagedwhich is going to be called coastal cul- tural middle groundd is a complementary tool to MSP that will offer a methodology to delineate the extent of coastal cultural * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: sorna_serena@yahoo.com (S. Khakzad), marnix.pieters@rwo. vlaanderen.be (M. Pieters), koenraad.vanbalen@bwk.kuleuven.be (K. Van Balen). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ocean & Coastal Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.07.032 0964-5691/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Ocean & Coastal Management xxx (2015) 1e19 Please cite this article in press as: Khakzad, S., et al., Coastal cultural heritage: A resource to be included in integrated coastal zone management, Ocean & Coastal Management (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.07.032