Partnerships and Collaborations

CSO partners with the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association to advance shared priorities in protecting, preserving, and enhancing the beaches, shores, and other coastal resources of our ocean and Great Lakes states. Well-functioning beaches sustain tourism, protect coastal communities, and support significant coastal habitats for marine fisheries, shorebirds, and sea turtles. CSO and ASBPA work together to support comprehensive beach management policy.

See our Joint Beach and Inlet Management Policy here.

CSO is partnered with the Association of State Floodplain Managers to enhance coastal communities’ resilience through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) Community Rating System (CRS) program. In 2017, CSO and ASFPM released the “CRS Green Guide” to assist existing and prospective CRS communities with techniques, best practices, and case studies for activities that maximize a community’s CRS score and resilience by strengthening natural and beneficial features.

See the CRS Green Guide.

Learn more about Coastal Programs and the CRS.

CSO is partnered with the National Wildlife Federation to to help mitigate the barriers that frontline communities face accessing and
utilizing natural and nature-based infrastructure (NNBI)approaches, by assisting Coastal Zone ManagementPrograms (CZMPs) in delivering community technical assistance and strengthening the relationships between CZMPs and the communities they serve.

See our previous report on living shoreline policy recommendations in partnership with NWF: Softening Our Shorelines.

CSO, the National Association of Counties (NACo), and the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) are undertaking a project focused on outreach to county and local elected officials in the Gulf of Mexico region to improve communities’ resilience to changing coastal and economic conditions. The project partners will create a web-based, multimedia training program called the “Guide to Working with Local Elected Officials on Coastal Management.” The Guide will have modules for coastal managers on how to educate local elected officials on coastal management issues, and for elected officials.

CSO coordinates and partners with the nation’s coastal management leaders through the National Ocean Service Roundtable, representing the coastal zone management program alongside the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association, the Sea Grant Association, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and the Integrated Ocean Observing System Association,.

CSO partners with the NOAA Office of Coastal Management and seven national NGOs to deliver data, tools, and resources for coastal management to states and communities through the Digital Coast web portal. Beyond ensuring that critical informational resources are available via the Digital Coast website, the partnership works to unify and coordinate national NGOs working coastal management issues through conferences, webinars, workshops, and meetings to give coastal professionals a forum to collaborate on key coastal issues.

The Digital Coast Partnership includes these organizations:
• American Planning Association
• Association of State Floodplain Managers
• Coastal States Organization
• National Association of Counties
• National Estuarine Research Reserve Association
• National States Geographic Information Council
• The Nature Conservancy
• Urban Land Institute
• NOAA Office for Coastal Management

SAGE, the Systems Approach to Geomorphic Engineering, is a community of practice dedicated to protecting our coastlines. SAGE promotes the wise use of both green (natural and nature-based) and gray (hard, structural engineering) approaches to make our coasts more resilient. Our systems approach addresses large areas of shoreline to foster thriving communities and flourishing natural ecosystems. For more information visit: www.sagecoast.org