Managing Ethical Norwegian Seascape Activities

Informations

Funding country

Norway

Acronym

-

URL

-

Start date

1/1/2020

End date

12/31/2024

Budget

1,229,016 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

Management of marine resources, globally and in Norway, strives to achieve sustainable development by balancing resource extraction, biodiversity conservation, and societal acceptability. However, these three philosophical paradigms tend to stand as monolithic pillars in their approaches to sustainability. Consequently, such un-integrated approaches to sustainability tend to lead to conflicted management objectives and policy goals. These conflicts are often rooted in competing economic, ecological, and societal values. MENSA aims to develop an integrated ethical approach to the sustainable management of Norwegian seascape activities (e.g., fisheries, oil and gas production, shipping, aquaculture, tourism, recreation, deep-sea mining, etc.). Seascapes, analogous to landscapes, are a linking concept, representing the intersections of land and sea, nature and culture, and science and art. MENSA is harnessing this multiplicity of seascape imageries and meanings to elicit both the emotions and rationality of Norwegians to understand how they value the sea. Specifically, MENSA will investigate the marine values, identities, knowledge, preferences, and risk perceptions of Norwegian citizens and marine stakeholders (e.g., industry members, scientific experts, non-governmental organizations, and government representatives) in relation to various marine activities and conflicts. MENSA´s overarching aim is to advance both sustainable and ethical marine resource management and governance. MENSA´s objectives are threefold: 1. To advance theoretical understanding of marine values and identities using the seascape concept. 2. To elicit diverse values and identities related to seascapes in Norway using a novel methodology. 3. To identify and evaluate value trade-offs and reconcile marine resource conflicts by integrating preferences of Norwegian stakeholders and citizens with modelling of value-based management scenarios. The knowledge being gained in MENSA is contributing to an ethical governance framework for the science-society-policy nexus to help resolve disputes related to competing uses and protection of marine resources. MENSA can serve as a proof of concept at the national level for how to reconcile value trade-offs inherent in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, notably SDG 14 (Life Below Water), 15 (Life on Land), and 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), to achieve not only sustainable, but also ethical development. In the first phase of the MENSA project, the main work and outcomes towards these three objectives include: 1. Development of ideas and new conceptual understanding of marine values and identities, informed by notions of sense of place and the importance of place to give meaning to our lived experiences. 2. Design of a novel participatory methodology that will collect seascape images as indicators of what Norwegians value about the oceans and coasts, to be compared with marine values gleaned from the academic literature, government management and policy documents, and public debates in Norway. 3. Ecological modelling of value-based management scenarios for the Norwegian spring-spawning herring fishery, as a case study for the evaluation of value trade-offs in marine resource management. In the second phase of the project, we are conducting empirical research to complement the theoretical investigations of marine values and identities and the ecological modelling to evaluate fishery value trade-offs. To gain insight into Norwegian values, identities, opinions, and perceptions, a Norwegian seascapes survey has been designed and launched online with the aid of a professional company. We ask a representative sample of Norwegians (1000 respondents) about their relationships to Norwegian coastal landscapes and ocean areas or “seascapes”. Specifically, we investigate the marine values and identities of Norwegians by exploring their lived experiences by and on the sea and their perspectives on ocean and coastal management and governance. We also ask about their opinions on various ocean and coastal issues and perceptions of marine threats. Our goal, through this survey and other project activities and deliverables, is to develop an integrated ethical approach to the sustainable management of Norwegian marine resources and seascape activities. The results of this national survey will be complemented with other data collection methods, including interviews and arts-based participatory methods, in local fishing, coastal, and inland communities as in-depth case studies. Other case studies will explore diverse stakeholder values and perspectives of marine issues in Norway within the context of Norway´s long history of marine resource use and evolution of maritime traditions and culture.