The Alaska Ocean Observing System, Western Alaska Landscape Conservation Cooperative (Western AK LCC), and the USGS Alaska Climate Science Center jointly conducted a Coastal Hazards Workshop May 30-31, 2012. Participants included a broad array of subject matter experts and stakeholders involved in coastal issues from a variety of perspectives. Workshop participants reviewed the current state of the coast and the state of understanding of the coast from a systems perspective, discussed stakeholder information needs and developed the framework for a conceptual model focused on natural-human system impacts due to coastal erosion and inundation.