The document discusses developing a certification system for integrated coastal management (ICM) practitioners. It proposes that practitioners require competencies in both a specific discipline as well as skills that allow them to work across disciplines. These include analyzing long-term ecosystem changes, governance systems, designing interventions, monitoring and evaluation, stakeholder engagement, and leadership. The Coastal Resources Center and EcoCostas developed a certification system focused on assessing these six competencies at junior and senior levels through training, experience requirements, and performance assessments. Certification can help codify best practices and create a professional community of ICM practitioners.

1. Building Capacity to Practice
the Ecosystem Approach
STEPHEN B. OLSEN
Director Emeritus
Coastal Resources Center
University of Rhode Island

2. TITLE OF SESSION FOR INTRO
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3. A CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL
 Is educated, experienced and competent
 Complies with defined ethical standards
 Will act in the best interest of society and the public
 Certification may define levels of capacity or specialization
 The focus is upon what an individual can do

4. THE CERTIFICATION OPTION REQUIRES
 A codification of good practices
 Setting standards for defined competencies
 Developing the mechanisms by which such standards can be objectively
assessed and verified

5. SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
Environmental Societal
Domain Domain
Ecosystem
Governance
Ecosystem
Good & Services

6. SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE:
 The natural sciences
 Reliable local knowledge
Environmental Societal
Domain Domain
DEFINING WHAT WAS, WHAT IS AND WHAT
Ecosystem
COULD BE:
Governance
 Evidence based, logical, value-neutral
 Experimentation and modeling
 Scenario building
Ecosystem
 Peer review
Good & Services

7. SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE
 Social sciences
 Culture
 History, political science, law
Environmental Societal
Domain Domain
DEFINING WHAT SHOULD BE:
 Distribution of power and wealth Ecosystem
Governance
 Societal values and political priorities
 Bargaining and accommodation
 Evaluation of options
Ecosystem
Good & Services

8. GOVERNANCE OF SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
 Societal values, definition of goals
 Formal and informal rules, mores
 Institutional culture
Environmental and operating procedures Societal
 Authority and mandates
Domain Domain
 Sanctions and rewards Ecosystem
 Voluntary compliance vis enforcement
Governance
Ecosystem
Good & Services

9. GOVERNANCE OF SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
THE FORMAL AND INFORMAL
ARRANGEMENTS, INSTITUTIONS, AND MORES
THAT STRUCTURE AND INFLUENCE:
 How resources or an environment are utilized
 How problems, opportunities are evaluated, analyzed
 What behavior is acceptable or forbidden
 What rules & sanctions are applied to affect how natural
resources are distributed and used

10. PRINCIPLE SOURCES AND
MECHANISMS OF GOVERNANCE
Olsen et al., 2006

11. THE CHALLENGES OF PRACTICING
THE ECOSYSTEM APPROACH
 One person cannot know it all
 Deep knowledge of at least one component signals ability, rigor
and discipline
 The critical attribute is system thinking and a world view that
senses the great transition in which we as a species are embarked
in the Anthropocene

12. THE T-COMPETENCIES
To be effective as a practitioner of
the ecosystem approach, an
individual requires:
 In-depth knowledge of a at least
one academic discipline (the
column)
 Integrating knowledge, skills and
values (the cable) that enable
productive engagement with
 a governance system, and
 an interdisciplinary team

13. THE T-COMPETENCIES
Measures for assessing competency
in a recognized discipline are well
developed
 Academic degrees
 Professional experience
 Publications and appointments
 References
Bachelor Master Ph.D

14. THE COMPETENCIES OF THE UNIFYING CABLE
The URI Coastal Resources Center and
EcoCostas developed a certification
system for ICM practitioners directed at
six competencies:
 Analysis of long-term ecosystem change
 Analysis of governance system responses to
ecosystem pressures and change
 Design of forward looking viable interventions
 Monitoring and evaluation for adaptive
management
 Stakeholder engagement, mediation
 Leadership

15. THE CRC-ECOCOSTAS CERTIFICATION IN COASTAL
ECOSYSTEM GOVERNANCE
 Standards for Junior and Senior practitioners
 Education
 Experience
 Performance assessment
 A sequence of linked trainings
 A practicum designed to gauge abilities to diagnose the issues and
governance dynamics of a place and prescribe a viable way forward
 Rubrics for the assessment of the 6 competencies
 A Code of Good Practices and a Code of Ethics

16. REFLECTIONS ON ICM CERTIFICATION
 Certification is appropriate as a means for gauging competencies in the
unifying cable
 Is an excellent means for codifying an evolving practice and profession
 Fosters a community of professional ICM practitioners
 The challenges lie in developing the standards and mechanics of the
assessment process

17. THANK YOU
sbo@crc.uri.edu
solsen@sustainametrix.com

18. The Science-based Approach
• Science provides a special way of knowing
– Logical problem solving
– Emphasis on evidence
• Associated skills
– Ability to engage in scientific discourse
– Judgments based on evidence
• Science is not a form of revealed truth
– Does not provide simplistic answers to complex questions
• National Research Council, 2009?

19. Context
FUTURE
Strategic Design
of a Coastal Ecosystem Desing & Implementation
Governance Program of Monitoring and
Evaluation
Facilitation, Mediation,
PRESENT Analisis of Governance
Leadership Stakeholder Engagement
Process & Structures
and Public Education
Analysis of Long-term Changes
in the Condition and Use of
Coastal Ecosystems
PAST

20. A CERTIFICATION SYSTEM FOR ICM
PRACTITIONERS DIRECTED AT SIX
COMPETENCIES:
 Analysis of long-term ecosystem change
 Analysis of governance system responses to ecosystem pressures and change
 Design of forward looking viable interventions
 Monitoring and evaluation for adaptive management
 Stakeholder engagement, mediation
 Leadership Developed by The URI Coastal Resources Center and EcoCostas

21. Markets Civil Society
Government
Economic Legal/Political Social
Mechanisms Mechanisms Mechanisms
Human Uses of Ecosystems