Chapter 9 addresses research questions for issues related to restoring degraded beach/dune systems. The case is made that restoration is not just a two-stage process that should only be evaluated by comparing before/after conditions but a series of ongoing changes in human and natural processes. Many restoration actions must be episodic to be successful in the long term, and managers should be able to address negative aspects through adaptive management. Viewing developed coasts as a coupled nature–human system offers new insight to the types of restoration outcome that can develop, but further research is warranted and a wider range of implementable designs will be needed in the future. Research questions addressed here include ones that are generic and broad scale; ones that are more site specific and applicable to individual projects; ones that address negative side effects; ones that are research oriented; and ones that are intended to guide managers.

Chapter 7 discusses the importance of public support and accountability and the need to address issues at the intersection of natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering. Recognition that the acceptability of coastal management actions can be polarized into ecocentric and anthropocentric views or along disciplinary lines requires adoption of compromise solutions enhanced by combining the skills of a range of specialists and local stakeholders. Actions that can enhance natural value of beach/dune systems are provided for municipal managers, developers and property holders, scientists, engineers, and environmental advocates and regulators. The case is made that nature in developed municipalities may be small but more complex than in natural areas because it includes human and natural processes. More frequent human participation may be required where landforms and biota must be maintained in nonequilibrium states to survive. Restored landscapes on developed coasts may be artifacts, but the added natural values and significance of getting off a human trajectory is suggested as better than alternatives that create landscapes that are redundant with inland locations.