The National Coastal Environment Program (PNEC) developed fundamental research on the coastal zones of France, in Europe and overseas. PNEC was funded by a consortium of seven French institutions (IFREMER, CNRS, IRD, Total, CNES, BRGM, CEMAGREF) represented in the inter-institute committee to decide the program orientations and budget breakdown. PNEC activities were coordinated with LITEAU programme supported by the French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development, to make scientific results available to administrators and policy makers as methods and tools for coastal zone management.