Introduction to the theme issue: The role of geography in contemporary coastal management policy and practice

This article provides a brief introduction to the theme issue on "The role of geography in contemporary coastal management policy and practice." The theme is addressed through a suite of seven articles that collectively consider how geographical understandings and methods relate to contemporary coastal policy and practice. The key theme to emerge from the articles is that geography forms an underlying framework for considering integrated coastal management, largely due to the integrative nature of geography itself.