Managing Ethical Norwegian Seascape Activities

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. To advance not only sustainable, but also ethical marine resource management and governance, MENSA aims to develop an integrated ethical approach to the sustainable management of Norwegian seascape activities, which include: fisheries, oil and gas production, shipping, aquaculture, tourism, recreation, and emerging deep-sea mining. Analogous to landscapes, seascapes are visual depictions of the sea, and often represent 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 is investigating the marine values, identities, knowledge, preferences, and risk perceptions of Norwegian residents, as diverse publics and marine stakeholders, in relation to various marine activities and conflicts. Areas of convergence and divergence are being examined among members of the Norwegian population grouped by demographic variables (e.g., age, gender, socio-economic class, and residence) and professional interests (e.g., marine industry, science, and governmental and non-governmental organizations). 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 the sea in Norway using an arts-based methodology. 3. To explore policy options, evaluate value trade-offs, and reconcile marine 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 Year 1, the main outcomes towards these three objectives included: 1. Development of new conceptual understanding of marine values and identities, informed by sense of place research and the importance of place to give meaning to our lived experiences; 2. Design of an arts-based 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 documents, and public debates in Norway; and 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 Year 2, to complement the conceptual analysis of marine values and identities and the ecological modelling to evaluate fishery value trade-offs initiated in Year 1, we conducted empirical research into the relationships of Norwegians to coastal landscapes and ocean areas or “seascapes.” A representative sample (N = 1062) responded to a Norwegian seascapes survey conducted online with the aid of a professional company. We asked about their lived experiences by and on the sea, their perspectives on ocean and coastal management and governance, and their opinions on various ocean and coastal issues and perceptions of marine threats. In Year 3, we focused on analyzing the national survey. We found that many Norwegians have a strong “sense of sea,” that is, a significant fraction of respondents indicated that their identities are dominated by the sea. We are exploring quantitatively the statistical correlations between this variable and other survey questions, as well as respondents´ perceptions of marine industrial and ecological threats in comparison with the literature. A Norwegian seascapes photo and prose contest has been launched to solicit the values and identities of Norwegians related to the sea. The local communities of the Vega Archipelago have been selected for in-depth analysis, where interviews, focus group discussions, and workshops will be held in the final year.

Management of marine resources, globally and in Norway, strives to achieve sustainable development by balancing resource extraction, biodiversity conservation, and societal acceptability. However, these philosophical paradigms tend to approach sustainability monolithically through rationalization, conservation, and community, respectively, leading to conflicted management objectives and policy goals rooted in competing economic, ecological, and social values. MENSA’s overarching aim is to develop an integrated ethical approach to the sustainable management of Norwegian seascape activities intersecting land and sea by making explicit the values and valuation of the sea and negotiating the ensuing trade-offs with the input of diverse marine stakeholders and citizens. MENSA’s objectives are threefold: 1. To contribute to a theoretical understanding of marine resource values and valuation in seascapes, informed by niche construction theory and sense of place empirical research. 2. To elicit societal values of the seas and coasts and activities associated with marine resources in Norway using the seascape concept and imagery in a novel methodology. 3. To evaluate value trade-offs and negotiate resource conflicts with Norwegian stakeholders by integrating ecological and oceanographic modelling of scenarios with elicited value priorities in an ethical framework for management strategy evaluation. The knowledge gained in MENSA can contribute to ethical governance that can resolve disputes related to competing uses or protection of coastal and marine resources. This can serve as a proof-of-concept model at the national level for how to reconcile value trade-offs toward sustainable development. Such trade-offs must be reconciled to achieve the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): MENSA focuses on SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).