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Perspective Matters: Towards Sustainability in Western Australia’s Coastal Zone

By Laura Stocker and Deborah Kennedy.

Published by The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability

Cultural perspectives of the coast affect – and are affected by – our marine ethics, frameworks for coastal ownership and management practices. In this paper we examine how cultural perspectives affect sustainability on the coast. In Australia, cultural perspectives of the coast include an ecosystem with intrinsic values, a commodity that can be bought and sold, a community place where people meet, a landscape with aesthetic appeal, a productive system that generates profits, a property to be managed, a spiritual realm that relates to proper order and reverence, an Australian Aboriginal realm, an arena of potential sustainability, or a combination of the above. Each of these cultural perspectives interacts with the others and this can create conflicts over rights and responsibilities. This paper explores the negative and positive implications of these cultural perspectives and makes suggestions about which are most appropriate to a goal of sustainability. Examples are drawn from recent coastal developments in Australia, such as Native Title debates, the marine protected area process and Coastcare.

The International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, Volume 5, Issue 5, pp.271-286. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 1.233MB).

Laura Stocker

Associate Professor, Sustainability Policy Institute (CUSP), Curtin University of Technology, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia

Dr. Deborah Kennedy

Research Associate, Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, Australia