Building institutional capacity to utilise and transfer science into decision-making is a challenge in contemporary coastal zone management. There are fundamental limits, mostly imposed by time and human capacity, to incorporating even the most appropriate and well-targeted science into policy development and planning and management decisions. There are also science ‘supply-side’ constraints in targeting the very specific problems decision-makers face.  This themed investigation explored the opportunities provided by boundary organisations  – bridging the interface of science and management – to address these challenges, with particular reference to the Derwent Estuary program (DEP) in South East Tasmania.