Universidad Nacional (UNA) in Heredia, north of San José, is holding a public forum Friday on sustainable development of the country's coasts.

Economist and researcher Marcela Román will appear at the university's Social Sciences' conference room at 9 a.m. to give a presentation entitled “ Tourism, the Real Estate Market and Sustainable Coastal Development.”

Román was a researcher for the State of the Nation project this year. The speech is open to the public and is intended to promote the upcoming annual Latin American-Iberian Congress on Development and Environment to be hosted at the university Nov. 5-9. For more information, call 263-4547.

Costa Rica's Pacific coast has undergone break-neck growth and development in recent years, much of which has gone on under the radar (TT, March 16).