Ecologies and Identities:a socio-legal exploration of the Marine Protected Areas network in English seas
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Law
Abstract
Until recently, marine species and habitats have attracted less attention and legal protection than their terrestrial counterparts. In the UK, it is only with the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 that a duty to establish a coherent network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) has been created. The network comprises MPAs of international, European and national importance, including marine conservation zones (MCZs), a new type of MPA established under the 2009 Act. Unlike other MPAs, socio-economic consequences are to be taken into account at the designation stage and stakeholders have been involved in the designation process in England.
Consequently, conservation law seems to be abandoning its traditional technocratic bias in favour of more participatory environmental decision making strategies. At the same time climate change is affecting marine species and habitats so that the regulatory framework of marine conservation law needs to be re-examined in the face of climate change. The proposed project aims to capture the social and ecological dimensions of marine conservation law at this turning point by a) assessing the role played by marine conservation law in making the English protected seascape resilient to climate change and b) looking at the impacts of marine conservation law on the identities and roles of sea users and other stakeholders.
The proposed project will cross a number of disciplines and integrate social insights from stakeholders into legal and policy oriented research on marine conservation asking two main questions: 1) how does this new legal framework affect stakeholders' identities and their relationship with their environment? and 2) what policy and regulatory lessons can be drawn from this analysis in order to make conservation law "climate change proof"? In answering these questions, the research will draw from and speak to different academic communities (anthropology, environmental law and regulation scholars), to policy-makers and to key stakeholders. In this way the research will contribute to the development of socio-legal scholarship on marine conservation, creating networking spaces for the co-production of knowledge and for collective reflections on marine conservation law and offering recommendations for future policies and laws on marine conservation that are socially and ecologically resilient.
The analysis of marine conservation legal rules will be complemented by fieldwork in three different geographical locations to compare different realities and to directly engage key stakeholders, such as sea users (fishermen, renewable sector and recreational groups), nature conservation bodies, regulators and non-governmental organisations. In each case study area semi-structured interviews and where possible focus groups with key stakeholders will be carried out to uncover (contested) views about the MPA network and its perceived effects on social relations, identities and ecologies within the wider context of climate change.
Consequently, conservation law seems to be abandoning its traditional technocratic bias in favour of more participatory environmental decision making strategies. At the same time climate change is affecting marine species and habitats so that the regulatory framework of marine conservation law needs to be re-examined in the face of climate change. The proposed project aims to capture the social and ecological dimensions of marine conservation law at this turning point by a) assessing the role played by marine conservation law in making the English protected seascape resilient to climate change and b) looking at the impacts of marine conservation law on the identities and roles of sea users and other stakeholders.
The proposed project will cross a number of disciplines and integrate social insights from stakeholders into legal and policy oriented research on marine conservation asking two main questions: 1) how does this new legal framework affect stakeholders' identities and their relationship with their environment? and 2) what policy and regulatory lessons can be drawn from this analysis in order to make conservation law "climate change proof"? In answering these questions, the research will draw from and speak to different academic communities (anthropology, environmental law and regulation scholars), to policy-makers and to key stakeholders. In this way the research will contribute to the development of socio-legal scholarship on marine conservation, creating networking spaces for the co-production of knowledge and for collective reflections on marine conservation law and offering recommendations for future policies and laws on marine conservation that are socially and ecologically resilient.
The analysis of marine conservation legal rules will be complemented by fieldwork in three different geographical locations to compare different realities and to directly engage key stakeholders, such as sea users (fishermen, renewable sector and recreational groups), nature conservation bodies, regulators and non-governmental organisations. In each case study area semi-structured interviews and where possible focus groups with key stakeholders will be carried out to uncover (contested) views about the MPA network and its perceived effects on social relations, identities and ecologies within the wider context of climate change.
Planned Impact
Who will benefit from the research?
Stakeholders and policy-makers that are directly involved with designation and/or management of the MPAs network will benefit from this research, namely:
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
UK sea- users (fishermen, renewable sector, recreational groups)
Marine regulators (Maritime Management Organisation and Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities)
Statutory nature conservation bodies (SNCBs) (Natural England and Joint Nature Conservation Committee)
UK-based environmental Charities and NGOs
UK public at large
European marine policy-makers are also likely to benefit from the project
How will they benefit?
The research is directly relevant to UK sea- users since it concerns their lived environment and their identities. It therefore has the potential to contribute to sea users' self-understanding and to their perception of the protected seascape by raising awareness of their role in conserving species and habitats protected by the MPAs network and enabling collective discussions and reflections on these topics during focus groups and workshops. Other key stakeholders, such as DEFRA, regulators and SNCBs will also directly benefit from the research during focus groups, workshops and the final symposium, which will create opportunities to learn about research findings and develop ideas (together with European policy-makers) to increase the effectiveness of marine conservation policy and regulation. These dialogues will be continued well beyond the duration of the project on the online platform created by the project website, whose accessibility is likely to have an impact also on the UK public at large.
Stakeholders and policy-makers that are directly involved with designation and/or management of the MPAs network will benefit from this research, namely:
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
UK sea- users (fishermen, renewable sector, recreational groups)
Marine regulators (Maritime Management Organisation and Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authorities)
Statutory nature conservation bodies (SNCBs) (Natural England and Joint Nature Conservation Committee)
UK-based environmental Charities and NGOs
UK public at large
European marine policy-makers are also likely to benefit from the project
How will they benefit?
The research is directly relevant to UK sea- users since it concerns their lived environment and their identities. It therefore has the potential to contribute to sea users' self-understanding and to their perception of the protected seascape by raising awareness of their role in conserving species and habitats protected by the MPAs network and enabling collective discussions and reflections on these topics during focus groups and workshops. Other key stakeholders, such as DEFRA, regulators and SNCBs will also directly benefit from the research during focus groups, workshops and the final symposium, which will create opportunities to learn about research findings and develop ideas (together with European policy-makers) to increase the effectiveness of marine conservation policy and regulation. These dialogues will be continued well beyond the duration of the project on the online platform created by the project website, whose accessibility is likely to have an impact also on the UK public at large.
Organisations
- University of Bristol (Lead Research Organisation)
- Blue Marine Foundation (Collaboration)
- Marine Protected Area Peninsula of Sinis - Island of Mal di Ventre (Collaboration)
- Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust (Collaboration)
- University of Bristol (Collaboration)
- National Research Council (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Margherita Pieraccini (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Appleby T. And Pieraccini, M.
(2013)
Fishing quota: a very large squatting claim?.
in Environmental Law and Management
Caveen AJ
(2014)
Diverging strategies to planning an ecologically coherent network of MPAs in the North Sea: the roles of advocacy, evidence and pragmatism in the face of uncertainty.
in Advances in marine biology
Pieraccini M
(2016)
Divergent perceptions of new marine protected areas: Comparing legal consciousness in Scilly and Barra, UK
in Ocean & Coastal Management
Pieraccini M
(2015)
Towards deliberative and pragmatic co-management: a comparison between inshore fisheries authorities in England and Scotland
in Environmental Politics
Pieraccini M
(2015)
Democratic legitimacy and new commons: examples from English protected areas
in International Journal of the Commons
Pieraccini M
(2015)
Rethinking Participation in Environmental Decision-Making: Epistemologies of Marine Conservation in South-East England
in Journal of Environmental Law
Pieraccini, M.
(2014)
The Management of European Marine Sites: advice for local communities
Pieraccini, M.
(2013)
Governing Complex Environmental Commons: A Case for 'Sea-ing' Conservation Law?
in Digital Library of the Commons
Pieraccini, M.
(2016)
Impact Assessmens for Nature Conservation: effective and reflexive?
in Public Law
Pieraccini, M.
Re-thinking "thin" and "thick" proceduralisation in the context of the designation of Marine Conservation Zones - See more at: http://archive.legalscholars.ac.uk/edinburgh/restricted/paper.cfm?id=297#sthash.PMWZyMPm.dpuf
in None. It was a paper presented at a conference.
| Title | Short Film: South-East Fishermen discussion MCZs |
| Description | This short film was made in 2013 with fishermen in the South-East, who consented to be filmed. I was asking the question and Mr. Mansfield (free lance camera man) filming. The fishermen were reflecting on the process of designating Marine Conservation Zones. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Impact | It has been placed on my own project website and on you tube so it is easily accessible to the public. |
| URL | http://ecologiesandidentities.blogs.ilrt.org/2013/11/26/fishermen-discuss-designation-in-the-south-e... |
| Description | This interdisciplinary project has critically examined a number of issues related to marine conservation law in the UK from a socio-legal perspective. New knowledge has been generated in relation to: 1)institutions for local marine governance providing a comparison between England and Scotland 2) participative processes in environmental decision-making, developing new theoretical insights also informed by the empirical work, 3) commons governance considering protected areas as a form of new commons, hence developing further the concept of 'new commons', 4) legal consciousness of marine stakeholders in relation to the environment thereby contributing to the socio-legal debates in this area, 5) strengths and weakness of cost-benefit tools such as impact assessments, considering their value in informing environmental policy decisions. Using a case study approach, it has been possible to carry in-depth research in 3 diverse areas in the UK (Isles of Scilly, North-West Scotland and South-East England), all affected by the establishment of national and/or European marine protected areas. Through engaging with stakeholders both during the data collection phase and through workshops and a final symposium, collective reflections on marine conservation and the impacts on local sea-users have been made and environmental awareness and local recommendations advanced. The project website has also allowed the project to publicise the research to an international and non-specialist audience. Collaborations with a number of UK academics have also been developed, leading to joint publications. The project PI has also developed new research networks outside the UK, most notably an on-going collaboration with researchers and stakeholders working in the second largest Marine Protected Area in Italy (Penisola del Sinis-Isola di Mal di Ventre MPA, Sardinia). This collaboration resulted in a successful application for a ESCR Impact Acceleration Account grant where the PI was able to carry out a number of impact activities to improve the governance of Sardinian MPA, also building on the expertise and findings from this ESRC project. Research data and academic papers generated by the project will continue to be made available to a worldwide audience by means of 'open access' publishing and the UK Data Archive where primary data from the project are deposited. Project publications so far include six peer reviewed papers in both generalist and specialist law journals and in interdisciplinary journals. Challenging area: It has been difficult to research in depth the relationship between marine conservation law and climate change in the UK (the third objective in the case for support). One reason is that most of the stakeholders I have been engaged with were primary concerned with getting new Marine Protected Areas designated in the best possible way and there seemed to be little knowledge and concern for issues related to climate change. Also, the governmental decision in 2013 to designate new Marine Conservation Zones in tranches In England means that today we still do not have the full network in place, hindering the ability to assessing network resilience in the face of climate change. |
| Exploitation Route | My findings are of interest to other academics working on nature conservation law, fishing and small scale and island communities. The disciplines that will benefit most are environmental law, anthropology, and human geography. The findings can also inform the work and practices of non-academic stakeholders, namely policy makers, statutory nature conservation bodies, environmental NGOs and fishers. Both the academic publications and the data collected and archived in the UK Data Service contain a wealth of information from different perspectives to enable critical reflections on the establishment of new marine protected areas and on the network and also suggest a number of suggested ways forward to enable better decision-making in the future. The findings have already been discussed at the Symposium I organised at the University of Bristol in September 2015 where academic and non-academic participants reflected, inter alia, on the findings of the project and on the way such knowledge could be incorporated in their work. The findings were also discussed with local stakeholders in the workshops I organised in two case study areas, enhancing stakeholders' environmental awareness, and their understandings of different perspectives and of regulatory tools that could help the empowerment of the communities. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| URL | http://www.ecologiesandidentities.com/ |
| Description | The impact of the project has been of a social and cultural nature so far contributing to local and national stakeholders' self-reflexivity and comparative learning in relation to marine conservation zones. Engagement with different local stakeholders affected or likely to be affected by Marine Conservation Zones has occured thorughout the project through face to face individual meetings but moreoever through stakeholders workshops in selected case studies where the findings of the project have been discussed collectively. Also, a final symposium I organised at the University of Bristol in Sept 2015 has brought together academics and marine stakeholders and regulators, who have been able to collectively discuss the findings of the project and report back to their organisations. Policy makers as well as environmental organisations have become aware of my research and in the year 2015-2016 I have been invited by the Office-gov for science to provide input on the future of marine policy in this country (Foresight future of the sea project), by the National Assembly for Wales to participate in a workshop on Brexit and the consequences for environmental and marine issues and by the Blue Marine Foundation to support their work in the creation of a new network of MPAs in the Aeolian Islands. I have also been contacted by the Scottish Inshore Fisheries Trust to develop policy papers that have been used to lobby Marine Scotland on fisheries and marine governance. My work has therefore informed lobbying strategies and policy responses of leading marine conservation and fisheries NGOs both in Scotland and Italy. It is thanks to this ESRC project that my name as an expert in marine policy and conservation law has reached key stakeholders with the possibility to have policy impact. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Environment |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | ESRC Impact Acceleration Account |
| Amount | £7,279 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2015 |
| End | 06/2015 |
| Title | Marine Protected Areas in the UK: law and society |
| Description | |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Description | Biodiversity workshops Bristol |
| Organisation | University of Bristol |
| Department | Cabot Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I co-organised a series of biodiversity workshops named Mainstreaming Biodiversity and co-delivered the first one with Dr Bridle (from the school of Biology). The worshops were aimed at academics in Bristol to raise awareness of biodiversity. Exeternal speakers were invited to deliver presentations. |
| Collaborator Contribution | My collaborators co-organised the series with me. |
| Impact | The collaboration was multi-disciplinary, involving social scientists and natural scientists (we attempted to get a representation from each department in the University). The impacts were to raise awareness of biodiversity issues within Bristol and to produce an internal paper. |
| Start Year | 2013 |
| Description | Blue Marine Foundation consultancy |
| Organisation | Blue Marine Foundation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | I was asked by the Blue Marine Foundation to support them in the work required for the establishment of a new Marine Protected Area in Italy. |
| Collaborator Contribution | I am helping Blue on the legal issues related designation and management of MPA. |
| Impact | I presented a policy briefing to the Italian Ministry of the Environment in summer 2016 to discuss the proposal for the creation of a network of MPAs around the Aeolian Islands.In summer 2017 I led a stakeholder workshop to discuss implications of MPAs on local fisheries and recreational interests. My work has contributed to the strategy of the Blue Marine Foundation and the Aeolian Islands Preservation Trust, who are the main proponents of the MPAs network in the Aeolian Islands. Currently, scientific surveys are carried out in the area to gather baseline data to be used for the development of the network of MPAs. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | CNR Oristano (2014-2015) |
| Organisation | Marine Protected Area Peninsula of Sinis - Island of Mal di Ventre |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | I used the methodology and questionnaires developed for my ESRC grant to carry out primary research into the governance of the Sinis Marine Protected Area (Sardinia). 16 semi-structured interviews were carried out by me between the 19th and the 30th of May 2014 with local stakeholders (fishers, local regulators and councils), technical staff of the MPA and the environment department of the Sardinian Region. We are aiming to publish the result in a journal article (now under Peer Review in Aquatic Conservation marine and freshwater ecosystems). I am the first author and have contributed 70% to the paper. Moreover, this work demonstrated the need for further research and also for impact activities so we applied for a ESRC Impact Accelerator grant at the University of Bristol that we obtained. I was the PI on the ESRC IAA. We carried out the impact research actvities in April-May 2015. The ESRC IAA did cover costs for the impact activities conducted in May-June. However, funding from the ESRC Ecologies and Identities were also used, after asking the ESRC, to cover PI travel costs to write the marine education pack and the jounral article. |
| Collaborator Contribution | My partners at the CNR Oristano set up the interviews and participated in some of them. They are providing the biological data regarding habitats and species trends in the Sinis MPA for the paper on the governance of the Sinis MPA that is now under review. Also, they join me in conducting the impact activities related to the ESRC impact acceleration award (see further funding section please). The non-academic partners of the project have been: 1) the Director of the Penisola del Sinis-Isola di Mal Di Ventre MPA, 2) the Liceo Scientifico of Oristano (scientific high school) and the Primary School of Cabras. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multidisciplinary. The disciplines involved are socio-legal studies and marine biology. a) A paper-under review (the acknowledgement section contains both a reference to the ESRC IAA grant and the ESRC Ecologies and Identities grant) b) A succesful application to Bristol for ESRC Impact Acceleration Award. Three different types of impact activities were carried out in April-May 2015: 1)A Stakeholder workshop that took place at the IAMC-CNR Institute on the 30 of April 2015. The stakeholders who participated were very active: they listen with interest and discussed at length the finding of the project and the proposals to improve the management of the MPAs as reported by the PI. One of the proposals consisted in the establishment of a cosultative body to support the management of the MPA whose members include all stakeholders' representatives (modelled along the lines of the IFCAs in England but without statutory powers and duties). Some participants proposed to render participation at all MPAs meetings compulsory for all stakeholders requesting a licence to carry out their activities in the MPA. The Director of the MPA took those proposals on board in order to make them operational and he is looking into funding opportunities at present. 2) Public meeting:on participation in environmental decision-making took place on the 6th of May 2015 in the offices of the MPA. Participants included the general public, students and representatives of local recreational fisheries associations and NGOs. The meeting was successful as evidenced by the telephone calls and e-mails received by the PI and CO-Is thanking them for the organisation of the event and giving suggestions and recommendations to improve public participation and environmental awareness. 3)Primary school (fieldwork and lectures with primary school children). The 9 of May 2015 an ecological day was organised by myself (PI) and CO-Is of the ESRC IAA award (Dr. Coppa and Dr. the Lucia, biologists at the IAMC-CNR) and the Director of the local MPA: the pupils were introduced to the MPA regulations and biological resources doing activities in the field. To test the impact of this activity on the pupils' marine conservation knowledge, two tests were given to them: one before the ecological day and one afterwards. In the first test only 15% of the pupils had a good knowledge of the MPA and after the ecological day 79% passed the test. The results of both tests were presented in class and a brief lecture on marine litter delivered on the 29 of May 2015. 4)High School marine education pack (teachers' training short course on the 29th of April 2015 at the IAMC-CNR Institute and development of a pack on marine conservation law and biology to include into the school programme in the current school year 2015-2016. The PI and research CO-I have presented the content of the draft of the marine school pack (to be used in the high school in the school year 2015-2016) to the teachers and discuss it with the teachers to amend the pack to make sure it fitted well with the teaching methods used at the school. A final discussion with the teacher took place on the 11 of September in a meeting at the School itself with teachers and the Co-Is.The pack was approved and it is going to be tested this school year with the students. At the end of the academic year 2015-2016 the feedback will be sent to the PI and Co-Is and it will be possible to do new amendments and extend decide whether to extend the pack to national/regional level. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | CNR Oristano (2014-2015) |
| Organisation | National Research Council |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | I used the methodology and questionnaires developed for my ESRC grant to carry out primary research into the governance of the Sinis Marine Protected Area (Sardinia). 16 semi-structured interviews were carried out by me between the 19th and the 30th of May 2014 with local stakeholders (fishers, local regulators and councils), technical staff of the MPA and the environment department of the Sardinian Region. We are aiming to publish the result in a journal article (now under Peer Review in Aquatic Conservation marine and freshwater ecosystems). I am the first author and have contributed 70% to the paper. Moreover, this work demonstrated the need for further research and also for impact activities so we applied for a ESRC Impact Accelerator grant at the University of Bristol that we obtained. I was the PI on the ESRC IAA. We carried out the impact research actvities in April-May 2015. The ESRC IAA did cover costs for the impact activities conducted in May-June. However, funding from the ESRC Ecologies and Identities were also used, after asking the ESRC, to cover PI travel costs to write the marine education pack and the jounral article. |
| Collaborator Contribution | My partners at the CNR Oristano set up the interviews and participated in some of them. They are providing the biological data regarding habitats and species trends in the Sinis MPA for the paper on the governance of the Sinis MPA that is now under review. Also, they join me in conducting the impact activities related to the ESRC impact acceleration award (see further funding section please). The non-academic partners of the project have been: 1) the Director of the Penisola del Sinis-Isola di Mal Di Ventre MPA, 2) the Liceo Scientifico of Oristano (scientific high school) and the Primary School of Cabras. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multidisciplinary. The disciplines involved are socio-legal studies and marine biology. a) A paper-under review (the acknowledgement section contains both a reference to the ESRC IAA grant and the ESRC Ecologies and Identities grant) b) A succesful application to Bristol for ESRC Impact Acceleration Award. Three different types of impact activities were carried out in April-May 2015: 1)A Stakeholder workshop that took place at the IAMC-CNR Institute on the 30 of April 2015. The stakeholders who participated were very active: they listen with interest and discussed at length the finding of the project and the proposals to improve the management of the MPAs as reported by the PI. One of the proposals consisted in the establishment of a cosultative body to support the management of the MPA whose members include all stakeholders' representatives (modelled along the lines of the IFCAs in England but without statutory powers and duties). Some participants proposed to render participation at all MPAs meetings compulsory for all stakeholders requesting a licence to carry out their activities in the MPA. The Director of the MPA took those proposals on board in order to make them operational and he is looking into funding opportunities at present. 2) Public meeting:on participation in environmental decision-making took place on the 6th of May 2015 in the offices of the MPA. Participants included the general public, students and representatives of local recreational fisheries associations and NGOs. The meeting was successful as evidenced by the telephone calls and e-mails received by the PI and CO-Is thanking them for the organisation of the event and giving suggestions and recommendations to improve public participation and environmental awareness. 3)Primary school (fieldwork and lectures with primary school children). The 9 of May 2015 an ecological day was organised by myself (PI) and CO-Is of the ESRC IAA award (Dr. Coppa and Dr. the Lucia, biologists at the IAMC-CNR) and the Director of the local MPA: the pupils were introduced to the MPA regulations and biological resources doing activities in the field. To test the impact of this activity on the pupils' marine conservation knowledge, two tests were given to them: one before the ecological day and one afterwards. In the first test only 15% of the pupils had a good knowledge of the MPA and after the ecological day 79% passed the test. The results of both tests were presented in class and a brief lecture on marine litter delivered on the 29 of May 2015. 4)High School marine education pack (teachers' training short course on the 29th of April 2015 at the IAMC-CNR Institute and development of a pack on marine conservation law and biology to include into the school programme in the current school year 2015-2016. The PI and research CO-I have presented the content of the draft of the marine school pack (to be used in the high school in the school year 2015-2016) to the teachers and discuss it with the teachers to amend the pack to make sure it fitted well with the teaching methods used at the school. A final discussion with the teacher took place on the 11 of September in a meeting at the School itself with teachers and the Co-Is.The pack was approved and it is going to be tested this school year with the students. At the end of the academic year 2015-2016 the feedback will be sent to the PI and Co-Is and it will be possible to do new amendments and extend decide whether to extend the pack to national/regional level. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Scottish Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust (SIFT) consultancy |
| Organisation | Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | I am a consultant to SIFT on inshore fisheries. My work stemming from the ESRC Ecologies and Indentities project generated the interest of SIFT and some of the findings are now updated and used to write reports for SIFT's policy lobbying activities. |
| Collaborator Contribution | On the ground experience of inshore fishieries governance and lobbying. |
| Impact | The outputs will be short papers. I produced two position papers that have been used by SIFT in lobbying Marine Scotland on fisheries. I was the lead author on a paper on fisheries co-management and the second author of a paper on environmental law and marine governance. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Title | Website and social media |
| Description | A project website has been developed and a twitter account too. |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2013 |
| Impact | Both the website and twitter account are dissemination tools aimed at bringing the research to the wider public. |
| URL | http://www.ecologiesandidentities.com/ |
| Description | Marine Management Organisation's Marine Science Alignment Workshop, London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I was asked by the Marine Management Organisation to attend a Marine Science Alignment Workshop. I was an academic expert among others that had been invited from other Universities and departments. The aim was to provide a forum through which collaborations between academic researchers and the MMO could be developed and enhanced. Depending on our expertises, participants were divided in groups and we worked the full day to identify gaps in MMO activities and draw on academic expertise to support the MMO to identify new areas for developing marine management projects. The discussions carried out tht day were taken on board by the MMO with a view to building innovative research projects and programmes to make best use of government and European funding on science and marine management. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Article on marine conservation for The Conversation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Paper was widely read and served to stimulate critical interest into marine conservation Article was re-twitted by 19 people. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| URL | https://theconversation.com/marine-conservation-bid-upsets-everyone-it-aimed-to-please-21246 |
| Description | MCZ workshop in Hastings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | I attended a workshop in Hastings to discuss the management measures for local MPAs. Differently from the workshops in the other two case study areas (Isles of Scilly and Barra), the workshop in Hastings was not organised by me but by the local IFCA. The participants were primarily stakeholders and conservation bodies, though there were also some representatives of the local public. The recommendations given by the participants (including me) fed directly into statutory nature conservation bodies and IFCA thinking to develop the most appropriate management measures for Sussex Marine Conservation Zones. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Organisation and Delivery of the ESRC-funded Symposium on Marine Conservation and Governance: MPAs and beyond |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | paper presentation |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I organised a final Symposium on the governance of MPAs at the University of Bristol. The symposium was over two days (24-25 September 2015). I invited academic speakers from both the social sciences and natural sciences to consider issues related to Marine Protected Areas within the wider context of marine governance in national and international contexts. Themes such as the relationship between environmental conservation and socio-economics impacts of Marine Protected Areas were discussed through multi-disciplinary lenses, next to key concepts such as "ecological networks" and an "ecosystem-based approach". Case studies from different MPAs were presented to ground the concepts and themes in empirical evidence. I was able to present the findings of my own ESRC Ecologies and Identities project, delivering three presentation and the introductory talk. Key representatives of the policy community attended the workshop, namely Staututory Nature Coservation Bodies (Natural England and JNCC) and key enviromental NGOs (Greenpeace, Marine Conservation Society). Other attendees were academics from different universities and disciplinary backgrounds. After the sympsoium, policy participants asked if I could put online all the presentations made and wrote reports back to their organisation to share what they had learnt during the symposium. Therefore, the symposiu fed directly into marine policy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://ecologiesandidentities.blogs.ilrt.org/ |
| Description | Organisation of Stakeholder Workshop Barra |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The workshop lasted for 2 hours and it was possible to discuss The participants said that they learnt a lot from the workshop. After the workshop, participants asked to have the slides of my presentation on conservation law and the booklet regarding community participation in special areas of conservation in Scotland, written by myself and my RA and now available on the project website. They also asked to continue being in touch in relation to conservation law and governance of their local Special Area of Conservation and since then I have been on e-mail contact with a couple of them. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://ecologiesandidentities.blogs.ilrt.org/ |
| Description | Organisation of Stakeholder Workshop Isles of Scilly |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | I reported the findings of the Isles of Scilly case study to the stakeholders and drew parallels with other case studies to stimulate collective thinking and inform decision-making for the management of local MPAs. After my talk, stakeholders thanked me stating that the research report helped them seeing their own situation in context and in a new light and I was asked by the Maritime Officer of the local IFCA to send my academic papers that were circulated among marine conservation stakeholders to inform thinking |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Presentation and panel chair at the MARE Conference, Amsterdam |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | I presented a paper on legal consciousness and conservation in small islands stemming from my ESRC research at the Centre for Maritime Research (MARE), Amsterdam in June 2015. I was also asked to chair a panel. Academic discussion and networking |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| Description | Staff seminar at the University of Plymouth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | I was invited by Plymouth University to present a paper on my marine research stemming from the ESRC Ecologies and Identities Project in a staff seminar. After the talk we had a great discussion. Academic discussion afterwards and new contacts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |