John, D., Coburger, E.. Geoinformationssysteme im IKZM. In: Schernewski, G., Janßen, H., Schumacher, S. (eds.). Coastal Change in the southern Baltic Sea Region. Coastline Reports (12), pp. 113-122. EUCC - The Coastal Union, Leiden, 2009.

The purpose of an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is to achieve an optimised multiple structure of land and marine use in the sense of multifunctional entities of polycultures (Glaeser 2004). Therefore several structural requirements have to be realised. The transparency (comprehension of decision processes as well as the participation of the public) and the holistic, system-oriented approach (overcoming of traditional land-sea-boundaries, ensuring an appreciation of environmental processes) should be mentioned as example. The article explains, which role geographic information systems (GIS) play in meeting these requirements. It will be shown how GIS can in the future assume the umbrella role for the entire Baltic coastal zone. Using the GIS-IKZM-Oder as an example it will be specified, how internet based geographic information systems already provide the data basis for solution based approaches and offer a platform for the publication of research results. Furthermore the article offers perspectives on the role of geographic information systems in the ICZM process.