About this site

iCoast has been produced by The Dorset Coast Forum working closely with One Bright Space. It has been developed as part of the Coast Forum's C-SCOPE (Combining Sea and COastal Planning in Europe) project part-funded by the Interreg IV 2 seas programme. iCoast is a website for anyone who wishes to pursue a recreational activity on the Dorset Coast. It promotes and encourages sustainable use of the coast and inshore waters.

Dorset Coast Forum

The Dorset Coast Forum (DCF) is an established strategic coastal partnership made up of over 220 public, private and voluntary member organisations.

Its diverse membership includes the fishing, commercial, environmental, recreational, historical and tourism sectors who, as a whole, have expertise and local knowledge of Dorset's coast and inshore waters. The forum is hosted by Dorset County Council.

Dorset Coast Forum's overriding aim is to promote a sustainable approach to the management, use and development of Dorset's coast and inshore waters. It does this through its Dorset Coast Strategy, encouraging collaborative working, sharing of information and data, together with providing key links at Regional, National and European levels.

C-SCOPE

Commencing in March 2009, C-SCOPE is a three-year, €1.8 million European partner project between the Dorset Coast Forum and The Coordination Centre on Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Belgium. Its main aim is to achieve a seamless, integrated approach to land and sea planning and management. Both partners will focus on three elements which will link together to provide a comprehensive plan and information resource to underpin sustainable coastal management. In Dorset these are:

1. Creating a Marine Spatial Plan for a pilot Marine Management Area (MMA).

2. Developing a unique GIS-based tool (Coastal Explorer Planning) for planners, developers and other decision makers.

3. Producing iCoast, to give locals and tourists access to coastal and marine information, and which encourages sustainable use of the coast.

The 2012 Olympic Games present an opportunity to develop a maritime legacy that will benefit Dorset's coastal communities and the maritime sector long into the future. The DCF has developed the C-SCOPE (combining sea and coastal planning in Europe) project to realise this potential.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the following for their support of this project:


Project Funders:

We are very grateful to these organisations for their finanical support of the C-SCOPE project:


Photographs:

Thank you to the following individuals and organisations for generously providing photographs for inclusion within this website:


Data:

Our thanks to the following organisations that have kindly provided data for iCoast: