Lesson Objective:
To list the advantages and disadvantages of different coastal
management techniques.
LESSON 6: COASTAL MANAGEMENT
HARD AND SOFT ENGINEERING
There are 2 types of engineering that are used at the
coast
Hard Engineering= this means using solid structures
to resist forces of erosion
Soft Engineering (or Holistic approaches)= this is an
approach that considers all aspects if management
including; environment, social and economic
factors. It usually uses smaller structures often
from natural resources.
TASK 1

Make a table in your book like the one below.
Use page 80-81 in your text book and page 9899 of Geog.GCSE to find out the advantages
and disadvantages of each type of
management.
Management
Technique

Hard or soft
Engineering?
Description
Advantages
Disadvantages
Task 2 What is meant by Integrated Coastal
Management Zone (ICZM)?
TASK 3

Imagine you are the following people...which
type of management do you think they would
go for- Hard or soft engineering? Give reasons
for your answer
 Tourist
Board in a busy tourist area
 Local resident living on a cliff top
 Local Government who need to improve education
in the area
 School children who go to the beach every summer
PLENARY

Which option would be the most sustainable?
 With
the person next to you briefly decide which of
the options is going to be the most sustainable and
why?
 Hard
engineering
 Soft engineering
 ICZM