Boating Infrastructure

Sustainability is assumed to be a goal for the planning and design of coastal infrastructure in general, and specifically for marinas. Well established principles define sustainability in terms of environmental, economic, and social criteria. However, only the environmental dimension of sustainability is well developed in the marina industry. The social dimension of sustainability, conversely, is missing from available marina planning guidelines and usually not a goal considered for marina planning. This paper proposes the basis of social sustainability criteria for physical planning of marinas.
One of the main thesis of this approach is that the built environment can either encourage or prevent participation of the local community in a marina project, which has a major influence on social sustainability. Marina planning needs to create spaces within the marina for local community members and businesses to offer goods and services directly to guests, in order to achieve social sustainability and enhance guest experience.

Large navigation infrastructure projects are increasingly focused on achieving true environmental and social sustainability and improving its resilience to climate change impacts. PIANC's Working with Nature (WwN) Philosophy provides a key framework to help achieving those goals by improving the planning process. However, recreational navigation infrastructure (RNI) is seldom considered as a tool to achieve those goals. Recreational navigation activity can be significant contributor to economic development, urban integration and social improvement. RNI is typically compatible with environmental restoration, can be embedded in climate change adaptation design, and often provides a value-added solution to repurposing aging infrastructure. However, recreational navigation opportunities are often overlooked in the conception of large projects, excluded from planning efforts and not funded as part of development plans. This paper discusses how a multipurpose planning approach, rooted in the WwN philosophy, can be used to add value to waterborne transport projects by considering recreational navigation.

"The planning process for marinas and for tourism and recreational boating infrastructure requires an holistic approach. While marina-specific technical publications and design recommendations exist, they don’t always respond to all practical planning needs. This paper presents observations of the author regarding the marina planning process, its objectives and approach. The author routinely applies a marina planning methodology, which has been developed by a group of consultants dedicated to this specialty. 
A general discussion of nautical infrastructure at regional level is presented, due to the strong relationship between (coastal, real estate, tourism and economic) development policies, and the context for planning of one individual marina.
Characteristics of the marina planning process are described, and some special circumstances that professionals need to face are presented. Engineering and environmental issues relative to the planning process are briefly addressed. However, some issues relative to marina market studies and business evaluation are described in more detail, since they are less familiar to Engineers. Typical failures of the planning process, as well as successful results of the implementation of an integrated planning process are illustrated."

Nursing practice on a ship involves certain risks and constraints inherent to the facilities themselves and the maritime environment. The response in the case of a medical incident at sea is guided by an organisation adapted to these constraints, overseen by a specific regulatory body. Different entities, players and resources may be involved depending on the diverse situations encountered.