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FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren

Valuing the past, sustaining the future: Education, knowledge and identity across three generations in coastal communities

Alternative title: Valuing the past, sustaining the future: Utdanning, kunnskap og identitet i tre generasjoner i kystsamfunn

Awarded: NOK 12.1 mill.

The coastal communities which are located in outlying zones along the coastlines of Norway, Ireland, Cyprus, the Faroe Islands, and Australia, have all undergone transitions from livelihoods primarily based on fisheries and other maritime businesses to being dependent on a variety of new and often precarious private and public industries and working opportunities. These communities represent small places with large histories, some of them having suffered from the long process of urbanization and centralization in modern industrial and post-industrial societies. Our research reveals that the studied communities have adopted different response strategies to the transitions, and some have been able to draw on new opportunities provided by the global “blue economy,” such as fish-farming industries. Significantly this has led to renewed interest by many young people in creating a sustainable life in a coastal community. Children and young people are important but often overlooked actors in creating sustainable livelihoods, economies and knowledge in coastal communities, past and present. Our research document that childhood is a significant time for coastal identities, knowledge and sense of belonging to place and people. The rapid transition is calling into question what it means to be coastal for children and young people. The significance of gender and changes over time, has emerged as important across countries. Many coastal societies are characterized by ethnic diversity, creating complex dynamics in relation to inclusion and exclusion. These and other changes have wide-ranging implications for present everyday life and future development of inclusive and socially sustainable societies. Coastal livelihoods, work and economies changing over time have created new dynamics between ‘traditional’/local forms of knowledge, formal education and scientific knowledge contributing to the formation of a variety of marine epistemologies, often revealing different values and interests among people (gender, ethnicity, age, lifestyle). The importance of including knowledge of relevance for coastal communities in schools is urgent. Children are highly interdependent humans whose capacity to act depends on their relations with both the human and the non-human world. A strong sense of belonging to the coastal environment across generations and countries are an important finding. In all the countries, the centrality of place (land and sea) for all generations is evident. Sense of belonging and a strong attachment to fishing is impacting the younger generations professional orientations at an emotional level even in communities where fishing is no longer a viable profession(Ireland, Faroe Islands and Tasmania). In Tasmania and Ireland, young people often face difficult choices of whether to remain in their coastal homes or pursue educational and employment opportunities elsewhere. In all countries we document a radical break in processes of local knowledge transmission across generations. By this, valuable skills and knowledge connected to viable subsistence and interaction with the sea and the coastal environment is lost. In Cyprus and Ireland young people turn away from fishing which is no longer economically viable to seek opportunities for employment beyond the local community. In the case study from Norway, economic sustainability is made possible by fish-farming industries, and depopulation is not a problem. There is a strong sense of belonging to the coastal environment across generations, with a wish to stay linked to identity as fishing people. Young people, including migrants, value nature, sense of freedom and close-knit communities. However, many young migrants feel marginalized, and challenges are related to intragenerational social sustainability; such as equity and social justice. Identity as an islander among youths today is anchored in relational histories, making roots significant. Close knit communities are valued across all generations. These tightly woven interlinkages inculcate feelings of safety and belonging through expected codes of behaviour, with the capacity to be both inclusive and exclusionary, as well as negotiable. Another key common finding across countries is that childhood(s) past was characterised by informal working practices in the home on the farm and at sea. Work practices were gendered with girls playing roles in the home and on the farm and boys playing roles on the farm and at sea. In Tasmania and Ireland, past generations learned practical skills through work. Informal (and unpaid) work is less evident in children and youth today, with more time spent outside of immediate home and community environment. In all countries, youth highlighted the centrality of family and connection to their lives. Connection to people and place remain consistent over time. In a PhD study, a model promoting intergenerational and place-based education in coastal communities has been developed.

•The establishment of a team of excellent researchers from five countries was successful. The outcome for the participants in the team was an extension of empirical knowledge about coastal childhoods, identities and intergenerational relations in five countries. Furthermore, knowledge and experiences of relational methodology, theoretical perspectives and analysis was extended and deepened. This outcome was due to successful and close collaboration throughout the project period (six years). •The feed back from the participants in our research in the various countries across three generations was encouraging, indicating a positive impact on being involved in a dialogue about their life experiences in coastal communities. •The defined objectives and aims in the project proposal was gained, also demonstrated by more publications than planned. •The outcome of the research included not only increased international research collaboration, but also increased interdisciplinary collaboration by the strategic work by PI to anchor the funded project in NTNU’ inter facultary research priority NTNU Oceans (2016-2023). This was successful and also resulted in funding of PhD students across three faculties. •The impacts related to long-term changes in society brought about by the project's results and outcomes is still unforseen. As described in the result report, dissemination and dialogue with various users will continue, aimed to increase the impact of the research. •The applied component; development of place based and intergenerational learning models to be used in schools is delivered by a PhD thesis to be submitted in late November 2023. This represents a potential for impact on education in coastal communities

An interdisciplinary team of outstanding international researchers is established to provide a deeper knowledge base on the dynamic and shifting interplay between education, societies and working life in coastal communities across three generations and five countries in the prospects of a sustainable future. More specifically the project explores how education, identity formation, work and learning, with a particular emphasis on informal learning and local knowledge, are and have been experienced, transmitted, shared and practiced by boys and girls of diverse ethnic origins in three generation families. The project asks about the continuing symbolic and practical significance of local knowledge in coastal communities in economic, demographic and/or socio-cultural transition. The research is innovative by applying a comparative and multigenerational methodological approach, aimed at in-depth understanding. Case studies will be conducted with young people who have a higher drop-out tendency, including vocational, migrant and indigenous students in addition to ethnic Norwegian students in general studies. Biographical approach will be employed, exploring narratives of education, knowledge and work among youth (15-18yrs), their parents and grandparents. Applied research is included in the design to develop innovative models and practices for intergenerational and intercultural transmission of knowledge in schools and communities, in close collaboration with schools, museums, and local communities and businesses. By enhancing intercultural and intergenerational dialogue the proposed research will lead to better understanding and greater appreciation of diversity across generations and ethnicity, diminishing drop-out, and increasing the social value of education among marginalized groups. Moreover, expected impact is to contribute to reinforcing demand for creative uses of various forms of local knowledge past and present in developing sustainable coastal communities.

Publications from Cristin

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FINNUT-Forskning og innovasjon i utdanningssektoren