Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources

The next decade is going to be pivotal if we are to address the combined challenges of climate change and demographic demands on our planet. The International Panel on Climate Change Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere (Sept 2019) highlights the need for profound changes in our behavior if we are to reduce the likely impacts of climate change in the marine environment. We need to understand what changes will happen in order to better manage our marine resources for the future of the next generation and to protect our marine habitats.

Decision makers in Government, those involved in regulation, industry and perhaps most importantly, the public, need to have a better understanding of the value of our marine resources, not simply from a narrow economic perspective, but through understanding the wider benefits that our seas and oceans provide.

Combining what we know about ecosystem services ranging from the provision of food, energy and other raw materials to leisure, wellbeing and health for example we can develop a better understanding of how these services combine and their value as natural, rather than purely financial capital.

However, our decision makers will increasingly have to make judgements on complex and competing demands on our limited natural resources which will need to take into account social, economic and environmental considerations. A step change is required in the way that research informs and enables decision makers in the public and private sectors to facilitate and drive the rapid decarbonisation of our economy, adapt to climatic change and preserve critical natural capital and ecosystem service delivery.

The SMMR programme funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council will help to kick start a programme of research and innovation that will bring researchers from the social, economic, environmental and public health sciences for example, together with Government, regulators, industry and the public to develop processes and tools to support decision makers.

The SMMR programme will try to understand the ways that individuals and society value the seas around the UK as this has important implications for future policy, regulatory and educational needs. Social, economic and environmental information will be fused together in computer models to help us understand how decisions may affect the management of our marine resources. Ultimately the programme will provide decision makers and the wider public to explore different options and "what if" questions related to competing resource use. This shared understanding should support better decision making that helps to mitigate further degradation of our sea and helps us adapt to the inevitable challenges resulting from climate change.

The desired "impact" in the context of the SMMR programme needs to be carefully defined since different stakeholders will have different drivers and interpretations of this term. It is important to recognise that academic "impact" in many cases may be "out of step" with the desired outcomes and impacts needed in a policy, regulatory or industry context. The SMMR programme must address this schism and actively seek to support and reward the delivery of solutions-driven research, whilst protecting and enhancing excellence.

There is considerable planning and organisation required in order to create impact, and experience of managing other interdisciplinary projects and programmes of work has demonstrated that the engagement of the anticipated "beneficiaries" of projects from the outset in helping to co-design and influence the development of proposals is crucial. This is particularly cogent in the development of the routes to impact for each project and ultimately the SMMR programme as a whole. In addition, beneficiaries need to be properly involved in subsequent project oversight through the project monitoring process.

Aligning innovative research with required outcomes increases potential impacts. Those who may use the outputs from the project must therefore be engaged at an early stage. Developing a shared understanding of what is possible (from a research perspective) and what is needed (from a user's perspective) greatly increases the chances of delivering high impact research. This process is also an important part of cultural change and demonstrably seeds future collaboration, once a productive and trusted working relationship has been established. Under our SMMR proposal we have developed a protocol to support the delivery of impact and this includes:

A common understanding of "impact"
Early engagement of beneficiaries
Definition of outputs and expected outcomes
Active and ongoing monitoring of impact during and after a project
Cultivating an interdisciplinary community
Developing interdisciplinary capacity
Recognising and supporting innovation
Gathering evidence of impact

Solutions and system focused research will, by definition, result in innovation, the production of new knowledge and potential data, products and services. The SMMR programme should recognise and foster this potential as commercialisation can be a strong driver for delivery and impact among some key stakeholders. In Scotland, the Innovation Centres offer an obvious link to industry. The SMMR programme will seek to identify similar actors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with a view to stimulating their support and interest in the programme, its projects and their outputs. The financial services sector, insurance, banking and investment companies could potentially have interests in the SMMR programme, together with telecommunications, analytics and marketing organisations.

Those involved in the provision of data services such as the Met Office and the Hydrographic Office for example are also interested in data to drive and validate their models and add value to their existing data services. The developers of novel data collection and monitoring technologies designed to enhance our understanding of marine processes and systems will also have interest in the SMMR programme as decision support will increasingly need to draw upon a diverse range of data sources. Data from the programme itself will be subject to normal UKRI best-practise and lodged with appropriate organisations (ESRC: UK Data service, NERC: BODC, MEDIN)

Metrics of impact are often difficult to derive beyond those related to income, additionality and publications. Statements from project beneficiaries remain a powerful source of evidence, but such responses will need to be more structured and where possible supported by quantitative evidence. We suggest an independent review of projects and the programme on completion.