Workshop with the Brazilian team: Evaluating and reflecting on the co-production processes of OCEANS PACT in Brazil

The Brazilian OCEANS PACT team held a two-day workshop the 13th and 14th of November 2023, along with the local dialogue forum. The purpose of the workshop was to gather various actors involved in the Brazilian case, to present the findings of a recent research study, and to reflect and evaluate processes of knowledge co-production.

The first day of the workshop centered around a recent project, which examined conflict transformation related to small-scale fishing communities. The findings were presented, and the participants discussed challenges and barriers met thus far, as well as how they have been resolved or overcome.

The second day of the workshop focused on discussing and evaluating the group’s perspectives and experiences around the knowledge co-production processes used by the Brazilian team during the last 3 years of the OCEANS PACT project. Reflective questions were highlighted to spark discussion in a plenary session and small groups. This discussion provided several interesting and valuable perspectives. For instance, two aspects of co-producing in a meaningful and impactful way, according to the discussion participants, are 1) time, and 2) approaching the research collaboratively from the very beginning (i.e. co-designing the research questions together with the participants, rather than, for example, including participants once the research questions have already been defined). The group also described the communication between participants and researchers as having improved significantly over the course of the project, though language (and especially academic/scientific jargon) still creates barriers, jeopardizing transdisciplinarity.

The group also emphasized during these conversations that the efforts of the Brazilian OCEANS PACT team have helped significantly to transform the conflict over a fishing legislation, and that now, an innovative approach to managing and meeting different demands has been put into action.

This workshop brought together approximately 23 people which included key actors in the Brazilian case study, such as community leader Joyce Cardoso, representatives of the NGO Linha d’gua Institute, Brazilian academics and researchers, and the managers of three marine protected areas (Marine Environmental Protection Areas of the northern, central, and southern regions of São Paulo state).

Special issue in Maritime Studies: Marine Conflicts and pathways to sustainability in an era of blue growth and climate change

A collection of ten unique articles has been published as a special issue in Maritime Studies, titled Marine Conflicts and pathways to sustainability in an era of blue growth and climate change. This special issue was born out of a session that took place at the 2021 MARE People and the Sea Conference, Blue conflicts and pathways to sustainability, in association with Belmont Forum’s collaborative research action on ocean sustainability. There, eleven paper presentations including audience participation and related discussions which explored topics related to sustainable transformations of oceans conflicts, including contributions from the research projects OCEANS PACT, MULTI-FRAME, and NO CRISES.  

Four of the current ten papers in this collection are part of the OCEANS PACT research project. These are: 

Strategies for addressing conflicts arising from blue growth initiatives: insights from three case studies in South Africa. 

Multispecies blue justice and energy transition conflict: examining challenges and possibilities for synergy between low-carbon energy and justice for humans and nonhuman nature.  

Sustainability conflicts in the blue economy: planning for offshore aquaculture and offshore wind energy development in Norway

Ocean conflicts for whom and why? Participatory conflict assessment in the southeast coast of Brazil. 

The final paper to be released, and which completed the Special Issue collection, was the introductory commentary, published the 6th of January 2024. This paper was written by Fred Saunders, Ralph Tafon, Maaike Knol-Kauffman and Samiya Selim. Maaike Knol-Kauffman wrote in an email that with this paper, they introduce each article in the collection and “argue that conflicts, while problematic, can also lead to positive societal change by unveiling and transforming unsustainable practices.” Knol-Kauffman also wrote that the final introductory commentary provides two different approaches for researchers who are facing marine conflicts. One which is a “social-ecological systems approach emphasizing collaborative governance for conflict resolution”, and another which is a “political-ecology approach addressing power dynamics and resource distribution”. Finally, the paper provides insights into what is referred to as “sustainability transformation pathways”, with emphasis on the significance of finding common ground amongst and between parties within a conflict, and of re-evaluating and restructuring existing power dynamics. 

The introductory commentary, entitled Introductory commentary: Marine conflicts and pathways to sustainability in an era of Blue Growth and climate change, can be found here: 

 Introductory commentary: Marine conficts and pathways to sustainability in an era of Blue Growth and climate change

 

The entire Special Issue collection can be found here:

Marine Conflicts and pathways to sustainability in an era of blue growth and climate change 

 

 

Source: GRID-Arendal
Source: GRID-Arendal

Deep-sea mining

The transition towards renewable energy production creates a huge demand for minerals that are needed to produce batteries, solar cells, and many other products. There are high expectations that these resources can be extracted from the seabed, and deep-sea mining has in recent years been highlighted as an industry with great commercial potential. At the same time, it is an industry that raises environmental concerns, and which now seems to amplify the controversy over what blue growth and sustainable development involves.

In May 2022, Ida Seljevoll Skancke successfully defended her master’s thesis at the University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway as part of the OCEANS PACT project. The title of her thesis is “Seabed minerals in Norway: An analysis of conflicts and sustainability issues”, and it is based on public consultation documents, White Papers, UN reports, peer-reviewed literature, and interviews with key stakeholders.

The thesis analyzes the drivers for deep-sea mining, the international governance regime, developments in Norway toward exploitation of seabed minerals on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, and the controversies associated with this emerging industry. Ida reviewed the various positions and arguments for and against commercial utilization of seabed minerals, and discussed questions of sustainability, the precautionary principle, risk, and decision-making under uncertainty.

The thesis shows that the utilization of seabed minerals entails important dilemmas. On the one hand, minerals are essential for developing renewable technologies and achieving the goal of net zero emissions, and the focus is moving offshore due to mounting challenges in connection with today’s mining on land. On the other hand, there are high risks associated with new industrial activity in remote marine ecosystems and habitats that we still know little about. Ultimately, decisions will be made based on a mix of scientific advice, political and economic interests, social values, and technological opportunities.

Ida presented her thesis during a session on ocean conflicts at the annual Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, which generated a lot of discussion and positive feedback about her work. It illustrates the timeliness of this topic and the need to discuss the different aspects of deep-sea mining. The thesis is available here.

Image source: GRID-Arendal. https://www.grida.no/resources/8156 

                                                  
Photo: Private                                                                   

 

Meeting between Brazilian case studies of OceansPact and NoCrises projects

The Brazilian team of OceansPact was pleased to receive a visit from Lol Dahlet, researcher linked to the NoCrises project, also funded by the Belmont Forum. Lol is a PhD student at University of Bremen (Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research - ZMT), supervised by Dr. Marion Glaser, and her research is being carried out in the northern region of Brazil.

The goal of the meeting was to promote interaction between the two Brazilian case studies that are working with coastal and marine conflicts involving small-scale fishing activities - in the north coast (NoCrises) and in the South coast (OceansPact). The meeting was a great opportunity for interaction among the Brazilian cases and for the discussion of possibilities for cooperation and cross-regional network.

In addition to the meeting, Lol also gave a talk on Coastal-Marine conflicts to the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP/Santos) researchers and students. 

Photo: Pixabay
Photo: Pixabay

Participatory assessment of conflicts in Brazil

The Brazilian case-study has published the report Small-scale fisheries and coastal-marine conflicts in São Paulo, that presents the results of a broad participatory assessment of conflicts involving small-scale fishing communities of the São Paulo coastline, southeastern Brazil. The conflicts were assessed through an online survey and participatory workshops engaging stakeholders.

The online survey had the goal of assessing the cases of conflicts and the workshops aimed to validate and complement the conflicts surveyed, as well as to establish a ranking of the most important conflicts by different stakeholders. A total of 132 conflicts were systematized into 12 categories and the most relevant were: legislation and surveillance; large-scale enterprises in coastal areas, pollution, fishing regulation and fisheries management and planning. The prioritization of conflicts was important to guide the definition of the Brazilian case study based on local demands, but also to highlight the main conflicts faced by the small-scale fishing sector and to provide information to subsidize the discussions and actions around these conflicts. More than one hundred people were involved in the process, including fishers, community leaders, government representatives, researchers and other civil society organizations.

The report was published in Portuguese, as it aims to engage and disseminate the results of the assessment to the stakeholders. The Brazilian team will also communicate the results in different spaces and formats, presenting this report in marine protected areas councils, in local media, community-based organizations and building policy briefs for decision-makers.

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