Partnerships


 "Collaboration" and "partnership" are two long-standing, cornerstone operating principles of the NOAA Coastal Services Center. The Center works through partnerships to enhance effectiveness and efficiency and accomplish goals.

Several examples follow. Contact the Center at csc@csc.noaa.gov to learn more.

Between Governmental Agencies

Regional Ocean Governance
The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy recommended the development of regional ocean councils to provide the collaborative mechanism for local, state, and federal agencies to address coastal challenges. The NOAA Coastal Services Center provides federal leadership, participation, and support for regional ocean governance efforts at all levels. Contact the Center to learn more.

  • Gulf of Mexico Alliance
  • Northeast Regional Ocean Council
  • West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health
  • Great Lakes Regional Collaboration
  • Chesapeake Bay Program
  • Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment
  • South Atlantic Alliance (nascent)

Between Peer Groups

Premier Coastal Management Conference
The Coastal Zone conference series, held every two years in a different coastal city, is the largest international gathering of coastal resource management professionals. Around 1,000 people from the private sector, nonprofits, academia, and all levels of government come together at Coastal Zone to learn from each other the new and improved ways to address coastal issues.
Coastal Zone Conference Series

Coastal Management and Technology Conference
This conference appeals to those who use technology to address coastal resource management issues. Participants learn from their peers, as well as technology firms, about what is new in this field and how technology can make coastal programs more effective.
Coastal GeoTools

To Address Coastal Issues

Bringing Focus to Local Issues
This program focuses national resources on specific communities and regions, with the goal of lessening impacts from coastal storms. Local, state, and federal organizations come together to develop a large suite of new and improved tools, information, and forecast models. The results range from improved commercial shipping routes to better local weather forecasting.
Coastal Storms Program

Increasing the Pace of Coastal Conservation
To increase opportunities for coastal conservation, the NOAA Coastal Services Center works with groups such as the Land Trust Alliance and The Nature Conservancy to foster interest in collaboration among diverse, nontraditional partner groups. In addition to supporting collaborative efforts, the Center also provides data and technical expertise.
Coastal Conservation Products and Services

Better Risk Communications
Risk-Wise is a new initiative that is giving organizations a common playbook to use when communicating weather and climate-related risk information. Participants range from Sea Grant to the American Meteorological Society and the National Association of Counties. By communicating a similar message, the messaging is stronger, the delivery is enhanced and broadened, and American citizens will have the information needed to better protect themselves and their communities.
Risk-Wise

Land Use Planning for the Ocean
“As far as the cannonball flies” is how some legal documents still define a marine boundary. The NOAA Coastal Services Center leads a conglomerate of organizations working together to standardize the way marine boundaries are measured and defined. A handbook of best practices, a compilation of related legal decisions, and the beginnings of a marine cadastre (land use planning for the ocean) have been accomplished thus far.
Marine Boundary Working Group

Pacific Risk Management
The Pacific Risk Management `Ohana, or PRiMO, is a network of partners and stakeholders involved in the development and delivery of risk management-related information, products, and services in the Pacific. A variety or organizations participate. The goal is to improve Pacific Island resilience by enhancing communication, coordination, and collaboration.
PRiMO