Canadaʹs Atlantic Coastal Action Program: A community-based approach to collective governance

The Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP) is a community-based coastal management initiative that has been underway on Canadaʹs east coast for the past 6 years. Coalitions of local stakeholders have been assisted by government in taking a lead role for the planning and management activities in 13 coastal ecosystems throughout Atlantic Canada. The program was initiated and originally facilitated by the federal government (Environment Canada) but has come to be led and owned at the local level. The objective is to have all those affecting and/or affected by local decisions involved in this process. In ACAP, the traditional role of government is shared with the local roundtables that are established in each coastal ecosystem. Instead of government departments being the lead agencies that set policy and priorities, the communities assume this function and the government agencies become partners in responding to their identified needs. ACAP is a practical demonstration of the joint management, or collective governance approach to Integrated Coastal Management and offers lessons to governments and coastal communities looking to establish lasting partnership approaches that have the potential to achieve the sustainable development of coastal ecosystems.