A sustainability assessment framework for regional-scale Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) incorporating Inclusive Wealth, Satoumi, and ecosystem services science

Sustainability has become an increasingly important concept in the last few decades; however, its operational usefulness has not always been clear. In other words, some sustainability assessments may not provide decision makers with the practical information necessary to perform the assessment. This study proposes a novel operational sustainable assessment framework for Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) on a regional-scale based on a feasibility study in the Seto Inland Sea in Japan. The framework draws upon three separately developed concepts: Inclusive Wealth as the technical framework for the sustainability indicators; Satoumi (a traditional Japanese multifaceted coastal zone concept); and ecosystem services science. These three concepts complement each other when seeking to corroborate an assessment framework. Indicators based on the framework and relevant to the case study site were identified. Although Satoumi is a traditional Japanese knowledge, it is believed that its application may be instructive for other areas, as similar concepts can be found and utilized for the conduct of ICZM sustainability assessments.