Prosjektet er delt inn i fem arbeidspakker. Den første fasen av prosjektet har gått med til å hente inn empiri i alle arbeidspakkene. Det er gjort feltarbeid i Oslofjorden (Færder og Larvik kommune) samt langs Kullaleden i Skåne, Sverige og Nordkyststien på Nord-Skjelland, Danmark. Prosjektet har delt ut to masterstipender, et ved NMBU og et ved København Universitet.
Prosjektet deltok på IOERC, International Outdoor Education Research Conference, Tokyo, Japan. Marianne Singsaas holdt paperet Governing access to outdoor recreation spaces in urban coastal areas under pressure. A comparison of Norwegian, Swedish and Danish planning practices. Prosjektet var også tilstede på et arrangement ved Oslofjordmuseet, et åpent folkemøte om strandsoneforvaltning i Asker. Espen Sjaastad fra NMBU holdt innlegg knyttet til arbeidspakke 3.
COASTREC is a comprehensive study of the role and potential of voluntary organizations and civic engagement for
sustainability in policies, plans, and governance of coastal areas under pressure. Through empirical studies of civil
society initiatives promoting sustainable coastal recreation, the proposed project will answer both prioritized areas
in the call, through (1) investigating the pressures and possible solutions to sustainability challenges in coastal areas;
and (2) investigating and understanding how sustainability shifts are shaped by cultural and political processes,
economic interests, power structures, legislation, planning, and regulation. COASTREC responds to the societal need
for knowledge on what factors promote or hinder sustainability shifts; -the how-to? focusing on the role of culture
and multi-level governance. The project will investigate the role and agency of civil society, supporting,
complementing, or opposing state policies for environmental governance. We ask how state policy formulation and
implementation translate into a multi-level, -sector and -actor system and how this can be governed, and how civil society initiatives navigate through the same systems and influence and potentially change state policy. This will be
done through close collaboration between networks of practitioners, voluntary organizations, policymakers, and
Nordic researchers, supported by an international expert group. COASTREC will support Norway’s first
comprehensive Action Plan for the Oslo fjord aiming to improve environmental qualities, reduce pressures on coastal
areas, and aid the pursuit of equitable and sustainable coastal recreation. The project's axis is the SDG 17
Partnership for the goals, and the project explores the role of this goal in depth in enabling sustainability shifts.