Technically advanced and SF6-free 145 kV blue GIS

SF6, the most commonly used arc extinguishing and insulating gas in gas-insulated switchgears (GIS), is a greenhouse gas with high global warming potential, requiring careful handling throughout its life cycle. In order to reduce the GIS-related global warming impact, innovative solutions using alternative gases have been developed by different manufacturers, especially the blue GIS from Siemens – available for 145 kV / 40 kA / 3150 A – with clean air insulation and vacuum switching technology shows many technical advantages

Governance mapping: a framework for assessing the adaptive capacity of marine resource governance to environmental change

Marine social-ecological systems are influenced by the way humans interact with their environment, and external forces, which change and re-shape the environment. In many regions, exploitation of marine resources and climate change are two of the primary drivers shifting the abundance and distribution of marine living resources, with negative effects on marine-dependent communities. Governance systems determine ‘who’ makes decisions, ‘what’ are their powers and responsibilities, and ‘how’ they are exercised. Understanding the connections between the actors comprising governance systems and influences between governance and the environment is therefore critical to support successful transitions to novel forms of governance required to deal with environmental changes. The paper provides an analytical framework with a practical example from Vanuatu, for mapping and assessment of the governance system providing for management of coral reef fish resources. The framework enables a rapid analysis of governance systems to identify factors that can encourage, or hinder, the adaptation of communities to changes in abundance or availability of marine resources

Building leaders for the UN Ocean Science Decade : a guide to supporting early career women researchers within academic marine research institutions

Diverse and inclusive marine research is paramount to addressing ocean sustainability challenges in the 21st century, as envisioned by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Despite increasing efforts to diversify ocean science, women continue to face barriers at various stages of their career, which inhibits their progression to leadership within academic institutions. In this perspective, we draw on the collective experiences of thirty-four global women leaders, bolstered by a narrative review, to identify practical strategies and actions that will help empower early career women researchers to become the leaders of tomorrow. We propose five strategies: (i) create a more inclusive culture, (ii) ensure early and equitable career development opportunities for women ECRs, (iii) ensure equitable access to funding for women ECRs, (iv) offer mentoring opportunities and, (v) create flexible, family-friendly environments. Transformational, meaningful, and lasting change will only be achieved through commitment and collaborative action across various scales and by multiple stakeholders.Peer reviewe

A Decade of Incorporating Social Sciences in the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research Project (IMBeR): Much Done, Much to Do?

Successful management and mitigation of marine challenges depends on cooperation and knowledge sharing which often occurs across culturally diverse geographic regions. Global ocean science collaboration is therefore essential for developing global solutions. Building effective global research networks that can enable collaboration also need to ensure inter- and transdisciplinary research approaches to tackle complex marine socio-ecological challenges. To understand the contribution of interdisciplinary global research networks to solving these complex challenges, we use the Integrated Marine Biosphere Research (IMBeR) project as a case study. We investigated the diversity and characteristics of 1,827 scientists from 11 global regions who were attendees at different IMBeR global science engagement opportunities since 2009. We also determined the role of social science engagement in natural science based regional programmes (using key informants) and identified the potential for enhanced collaboration in the future. Event attendees were predominantly from western Europe, North America, and East Asia. But overall, in the global network, there was growing participation by females, students and early career researchers, and social scientists, thus assisting in moving toward interdisciplinarity in IMBeR research. The mainly natural science oriented regional programmes showed mixed success in engaging and collaborating with social scientists. This was mostly attributed to the largely natural science (i.e., biological, physical) goals and agendas of the programmes, and the lack of institutional support and push to initiate connections with social science. Recognising that social science research may not be relevant to all the aims and activities of all regional programmes, all researchers however, recognised the (potential) benefits of interdisciplinarity, which included broadening scientists’ understanding and perspectives, developing connections and interlinkages, and making science more useful. Pathways to achieve progress in regional programmes fell into four groups: specific funding, events to come together, within-programme-reflections, and social science champions. Future research programmes should have a strategic plan to be truly interdisciplinary, engaging natural and social sciences, as well as aiding early career professionals to actively engage in such programmes.This publication resulted in part from support from the U.S. National Science Foundation (Grant OCE-1840868) to the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR)

Towards an ecosystem-based approach of Guam\u27s coral reefs: The human dimension

Management of tropical reef ecosystems under pressure from terrestrial and extractive marine activities is not straightforward, especially when the interests of extractive and non-extractive marine resource sectors compete. Before implementing management actions, potential outcomes of alternative management strategies can be evaluated in order to avoid adverse or unintended consequences. In tropical reef ecosystems the continued existence of the cultural and recreational fishing activities and the economically important dive-based tourism and recreation industry rest on sustainably managed marine resources. Through a case study of Guam, an ecosystem model was linked with human behavior models for participation in fishing and diving to evaluate future socio-ecological impacts of different management options. Ecosystem indices for reef status and resilience, and extraction potential were identified to evaluate the performance of alternative management scenarios. These marine ecosystem indices link the natural system to human uses (fishing and dive-based tourism and recreation). Evaluating management scenarios indicate that applying a single management tool, such as input controls or marine preserves, without also managing the watershed, is suboptimal. Combining different management tools has negative near-term costs, particularly for the fishing sector, but these are likely to be outweighed by the long-term benefits obtained from greater species abundance. Adopting watershed management measures in addition to fishery regulations distributes the burden for improving the reef status across multiple sectors that contribute to reef pressures

Climate change risks and adaptation options across Australian seafood supply chains - A preliminary assessment

Climate change is already impacting the biology of the oceans and some dependent industries are in turn responding to these impacts. The development of response options for users of marine resources, such as fishers, is important in guiding adaptation efforts. However, harvesting fish is only the first step in a supply chain that delivers seafood to consumers. Impacts higher up the chain have seldom been considered in fisheries-climate research yet an understanding of these impacts and how climate risks and adaptation information are interpreted and used by stakeholders across the chain is vital for developing viable and sustainable adaptation options. We examined stakeholder perceptions of points where climate change impacts and adaptations currently occur, or may occur in the future, across the supply chains of several Australian fisheries (southern rock lobster, tropical rock lobster, prawn) and aquaculture sectors (oyster, aquaculture prawn). We found that climate change impacts are well understood at the harvest stage and there is evidence of potential impacts and disruption to supply chains. Yet, there currently is no strong driver for change higher up the chain. Holistic adaptation planning along the supply chain, underpinned by targeted information and policy for the catch, processing and distribution, and marketing phases is needed. This effort is needed now, as some adaptation options have long lead times, and a delay in adaptation planning may limit future options. Given potential lead times and associated uncertainty, a risk-based approach is recommended with regard to adaptation planning for Australia\u27s seafood sector

A framework for incorporating sense of place into the management of marine systems

Successfully managing current threats to marine resources and ecosystems is largely dependent on our ability to understand and manage human behavior. In recent times we have seen increased growth in research to understand the human dimension of marine resource use, and the associated implications for management. However, despite progress to date, marine research and management have until recently largely neglected the critically important role of "sense of place," and its role in influencing the success and efficacy of management interventions. To help address this gap we review the existing literature from various disciplines, e.g., environmental psychology, and sectors, both marine and nonmarine sectors, to understand the ways is which sense of place has been conceptualized and measured. Doing so we draw on three key aspects of sense of place, person, place, and process, to establish a framework to help construct a more organized and consistent approach for considering and representing sense of place in marine environmental studies. Based on this we present indicators to guide how sense of place is monitored and evaluated in relation to marine resource management, and identify practical ways in which this framework can be incorporated into existing decision-support tools. This manuscript is a first step toward increasing the extent to which sense of place is incorporated into modeling, monitoring, and management decisions in the marine realm

Implementing the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management

Formal principles underlying the utilization of marine resources have been under scrutiny and development for several decades. After centuries of largely uncontrolled fishing, methods for ascertaining population dynamics were developed and implemented through stock assessments. The principal international legal instrument of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provided guidance. In addition, international organizations were set up to provide consistent advice on the utilization of fish stocks and shellfish (Marashi, 1996). For many nations, the development of national rules and regulations also increased. Initially, the development mostly pertained to the sustainable harvesting of individual fish stocks, but later also increasingly around general rules for responsible behavior with regard to resource utilization. For example, discarding of unwanted catch was an obvious issue that needed addressing, as well as damage to the benthic ecosystem caused by certain fishing techniques.The research leadSing to these results received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme Project Mareframe: Co-creating Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management Solutions under Grant Agreement no. 613571