Lessons from bright-spots for advancing knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy

Evidence-informed decision-making is in increasing demand given growing pressures on marine environments. A way to facilitate this is by knowledge exchange among marine scientists and decision-makers. While many barriers are reported in the literature, there are also examples whereby research has successfully informed marine decision-making (i.e., 'bright-spots'). Here, we identify and analyze 25 bright-spots from a wide range of marine fields, contexts, and locations to provide insights into how to improve knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy. Through qualitative surveys we investigate what initiated the bright-spots, their goals, and approaches to knowledge exchange. We also seek to identify what outcomes/impacts have been achieved, the enablers of success, and what lessons can be learnt to guide future knowledge exchange efforts. Results show that a diversity of approaches were used for knowledge exchange, from consultative engagement to genuine knowledge co-production. We show that diverse successes at the interface of marine science and policy are achievable and include impacts on policy, people, and governance. Such successes were enabled by factors related to the actors, processes, support, context, and timing. For example, the importance of involving diverse actors and managing positive relationships is a key lesson for success. However, enabling routine success will require: 1) transforming the ways in which we train scientists to include a greater focus on interpersonal skills, 2) institutionalizing and supporting knowledge exchange activities in organizational agendas, 3) conceptualizing and implementing broader research impact metrics, and 4) transforming funding mechanisms to focus on need-based interventions, impact planning, and an acknowledgement of the required time and effort that underpin knowledge exchange activities

Exploring governance in Galapagos Marine Reserve

The image of Galapagos has been communicated by the conservation rhetoric as the paradisiacal and pristine destination for tourism and science in the last decades. This discourse has served to motivate, convince, and persuade audiences about why and how Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR) has been a positive outcome in marine conservation. However, the role of humans in the GMR agency has intentionally been left unnoticed, disregarding its influence in the GMR governability. In recent years, the visibility of the human element in the GMR management has been raised by developing more social-science-based research, mainly linked to economic assessments. Although these initiatives have brought positive outcomes for local interest groups, in many cases, this research-transition has proven to be insufficient to address (and solve) the challenges in GMR governance. Consequently, the ruling bodies' and interest groups' frustration, and the natural environment's degradation have deteriorated the mutual interactions, compromising the MPA long-term viability. Generally, the success or failure of the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is attributed to the governance model placed to govern it. In GMR, the challenges to its governance have remained unsolved along the years as issues linked to current events, when in reality, GMR success or failure was incubated even before the reserve was created. In fact, its current condition has been endorsed to the co-governance mode, to the availability of funds, to the fulfillment of regulations, and to the enforcement of law. This idea has disregarded the relevance of the institutional structure, the interactions between interest groups, the meta-governance elements (e.g., images of users), and their attitudes toward the area governance. This dissertation recognizes that alternative perspectives and instruments to look at this MPA agency are needed and argues that a shift from the managerial framework towards a governance paradigm to rule the GMR is urged in order to addresses high complex, diverse, and dynamic governance issues occurring at multiple scales. This thesis is inspired by the interactive governance theory and the governability notion, both of which highlight the importance of the three governance dimensions (i.e., first, second-, and third-order governance) and their mutual linkages, in addressing conflicts and suggesting alternatives. Here it is argued that the horizontal model of governance (or co-management) used in GMR has extensively been promoted as the solution for problems with marine resources, MPAs, and fisheries. However in reality, it is shown that it has been far from bein

Mangroves and Meaning-Making: A mutual relationship over time? Ethnographic Data

EN: Mangrove forests are located at the in-between of the sea and the land. People around the world have made sense of mangroves in many different ways, ranging from mangroves as „home of ghosts“, „resources“, „biodiversity reserve“, „coastal protection“ to „death bringers“. The aim of the research project is to understand how people in Southern Ecuador have made sense of their mangrove surrounding at the Gulf of Guayaquil over the last 200 years, and how this guides the use of mangrove areas around the Gulf of Guayaquil. The research draws on Communicative and Discursive Constructivism and the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse. The research data is composed of ethnographic and historical data, collected online, in archives and in an eight months' field research from 06/2019 until 02/2020 in Southern Ecuador. Besides unfolding empirically how meaning is attached to mangroves around the Gulf of Guayaquil and how discourses have shaped these meanings, the results aim to contribute to the ongoing discussions about the methodological framework used. ES: Los manglares se encuentran en el intermedio del mar y de la tierra. Personas en todo el mundo han entendido los manglares de muchas maneras distintas, desde „casa de espíritus“, „recursos“, „reserva de biodiversidad“, „protección costal“ hasta „traedor de muerte“. El objetivo de este proyecto de investigación es entender cómo la gente en el Ecuador del sur entiende a los manglares de alrededor del Golfo de Guayaquil a lo largo de los últimos 200 años, y cómo esto guia el uso de los manglares alrededor del Golfo de Guayaquil. Esta investigación se refiere al constructivismo comunicativo y al análisis de discurso de la sociología del conocimiento. Los datos de la investigación están compuestos de datos etnográficos e históricos, recabados online, en archivos y durante un trabajo de campo desde 06/2019 hasta 02/2020 en el Ecuador del sur. Además de revelar empíricamente cómo se asigna un significado a los manglares alrededor del Golfo de Guayaquil y cómo los discursos han formado estos significados, los resultados quieren contribuir a las discusiones actuales acerca del esquema metodológico usado aquí

Mitigating cetacean bycatch in coastal Ecuador: Governance challenges for small-scale fisheries

Bycatch of marine fauna by small-scale (artisanal) fisheries is an important anthropogenic mortality source to several species of cetaceans, including humpback whales and odontocetes, in Ecuador's marine waters. Long-term monitoring actions and varied conservation efforts have been conducted by non-governmental organizations along the Ecuadorian coast, pointing toward the need for a concerted mitigation plan and actions to hamper cetaceans' bycatch. Nevertheless, little has currently been done by the government and regional authorities to address marine mammal interactions with fisheries in eastern Pacific Ocean artisanal fisheries. This study provides a review of Ecuador's current status concerning cetacean bycatch, and explores the strengths and weaknesses of past and current programs aiming to tackle the challenges of bycatch mitigation. To bolster our appraisal of the policies, a synthesis of fishers' perceptions of the bycatch problem is presented in concert with recommendations for fostering fishing community-based conservation practices integrated with policies to mitigate cetacean bycatch. Our appraisal, based upon the existing literature, indicates a situation of increasing urgency. Taking into consideration the fishers' perceptions and attitudes, fisheries governance in Ecuador should draw inspiration from a truly bottom-up, participatory framework based on stakeholder engagement processes; if it is based on a top-down, regulatory approach, it is less likely to succeed. To carry out this process, a community-based conservation programs to provide conditions for empowering fishing communities is recommend. This would serve as an initial governance framework for fishery policy for conserving marine mammals while maximizing the economic benefits from sustainable small-scale fisheries in Ecuador

Reconstructing governability: How fisheries are made governable

Governability is an important concept in the political and environmental social sciences with increasing application to socio‐ecological systems such as fisheries. Indeed, governability analyses of fisheries and related systems such as marine‐protected areas have generated innovative ways to implement sustainability ideals. Yet, despite progress made, we argue that there remain limitations in current conceptions of governability that hinder further analytical development and use. By drawing on general systems theory—specifically cybernetics, control and feedback—we interrogate the conceptual foundations that underpin two key limitations: the need to incorporate the numerous variables that comprise a complex, holistic system into a singular assessment of governability, and the a priori separation of the governor and the governed that precludes analysis of a self‐governing situation. We argue that by highlighting the reciprocal nature of a governor–governed relationship and the co‐produced understanding of governing capacity and objects, a relational approach to governability is possible. This offers a clearer and more pragmatic understanding of how governors and fishers can make fisheries governable

Lessons from bright-spots for advancing knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy

Evidence-informed decision-making is in increasing demand given growing pressures on marine environments. A way to facilitate this is by knowledge exchange among marine scientists and decision-makers. While many barriers are reported in the literature, there are also examples whereby research has successfully informed marine decision-making (i.e., 'bright-spots'). Here, we identify and analyze 25 bright-spots from a wide range of marine fields, contexts, and locations to provide insights into how to improve knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy. Through qualitative surveys we investigate what initiated the bright-spots, their goals, and approaches to knowledge exchange. We also seek to identify what outcomes/impacts have been achieved, the enablers of success, and what lessons can be learnt to guide future knowledge exchange efforts. Results show that a diversity of approaches were used for knowledge exchange, from consultative engagement to genuine knowledge co-production. We show that diverse successes at the interface of marine science and policy are achievable and include impacts on policy, people, and governance. Such successes were enabled by factors related to the actors, processes, support, context, and timing. For example, the importance of involving diverse actors and managing positive relationships is a key lesson for success. However, enabling routine success will require: 1) transforming the ways in which we train scientists to include a greater focus on interpersonal skills, 2) institutionalizing and supporting knowledge exchange activities in organizational agendas, 3) conceptualizing and implementing broader research impact metrics, and 4) transforming funding mechanisms to focus on need-based interventions, impact planning, and an acknowledgement of the required time and effort that underpin knowledge exchange activities

Lessons from bright-spots for advancing knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy

Evidence-informed decision-making is in increasing demand given growing pressures on marine environments. A way to facilitate this is by knowledge exchange among marine scientists and decision-makers. While many barriers are reported in the literature, there are also examples whereby research has successfully informed marine decision-making (i.e., ‘bright-spots’). Here, we identify and analyze 25 bright-spots from a wide range of marine fields, contexts, and locations to provide insights into how to improve knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy. Through qualitative surveys we investigate what initiated the bright-spots, their goals, and approaches to knowledge exchange. We also seek to identify what outcomes/impacts have been achieved, the enablers of success, and what lessons can be learnt to guide future knowledge exchange efforts. Results show that a diversity of approaches were used for knowledge exchange, from consultative engagement to genuine knowledge co-production. We show that diverse successes at the interface of marine science and policy are achievable and include impacts on policy, people, and governance. Such successes were enabled by factors related to the actors, processes, support, context, and timing. For example, the importance of involving diverse actors and managing positive relationships is a key lesson for success. However, enabling routine success will require: 1) transforming the ways in which we train scientists to include a greater focus on interpersonal skills, 2) institutionalizing and supporting knowledge exchange activities in organizational agendas, 3) conceptualizing and implementing broader research impact metrics, and 4) transforming funding mechanisms to focus on need-based interventions, impact planning, and an acknowledgement of the required time and effort that underpin knowledge exchange activities