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In our Marine Governance Group, we do the vital work of researching the functioning of institutions, organisations, communities and individuals in managing seas and oceans. To understand the functioning of ecosystems, requires research that also explores the formulation and operation of governance – the practices and processes, materials and agencies, networks and spaces, techniques and tools that aim to order, control and manage marine space. In our group, our work is unified by a concern with the logics that govern governing: why do ‘we’ govern as ‘we’ do, who is governing and how, and in what ways might governance be done differently, and towards what kinds of ocean futures?
Our group draws from the humanities and social sciences to look beyond the status quo of governance discourses, and past the accepted and naturalised regimes of governing, to question and quiz the assumptions on which they rest.
We work closely with the Marine Policy and Management Group and their aligned critical interests in entry infrastructure, knowledges and policy practices. Together we seek to strengthen social science perspectives at HIFMB and, more broadly, in marine worlds. With the Marine Policy and Management Group we share a well-equipped qualitative research laboratory with the recognition that social science research is fundamental to understanding the relationships between people and the ocean.
You can read more about our group below.
Reams of scientific data enter policy domains daily, but an incomplete understanding of how governance functions can lead to situations that do not protect but may actually cause harm to our oceans as well as to those who lives are entangled with them. Our group brings together an exceptional range of people, working across an exciting array of social science and humanities disciplines at the cutting edge of thinking about marine space: anthropology, art, architecture, human geography, international relations, marine spatial planning and political ecology.
Our work is to research governance itself. We do so through an attentiveness to theory and philosophy – how does how we think, determine how ‘we’ govern (Peters, Group Lead), power and justice – how is governance shaped by historic logics and ongoing struggles (Satizábal, Senior Scientist), and planning and conservation – how is best available science put to work in global decision-making arenas (Teschke, Senior Scientist). We have a growing research interest in communication and change – how can art-science collaborations foster understanding and stewardship of oceans.
Our research is theoretically deep, empirically rich and creatively innovative. It shines a light on the often taken-for-granted ways our oceans are organised and controlled: the ways science and geopolitics shapes outcomes; the ways global measures have local impacts for people and place, livelihoods and justice, and the way people may be actors in governing through ocean understanding, connection and stewardship. Our research takes place in ‘the field’ and at the desk, engaging primarily qualitative methodologies from listening, talking with people, oral histories, ethnographies, discourse analysis, and more. We work with communicates, engage relevant organisations and agencies, and share research with the public. Our work engages an ethic of care and this ethos shapes us as a Group as well.
You can read more about the projects that define us in the staff profiles below.
Want to get in touch? You can contact us at ed.bmfih@ecnanrevogeniram
Our team for Marine Governance
Team leads
Kimberley Peters
Paula Satizábal
Human Geographer
Katharina Teschke
Conservation Planner
Satya’s innovative research examined the politics of shipping movements, related infrastructures, and the environmental controversies surrounding them. He was committed to equality and justice in his work and he engaged colleagues with humour, kindness and genorsity. As a first member of the team, his ethics of care continues to echo through the group.
Would you like to learn more about the people and their projects? Listen to our podcast episodes:
Jan-Claas – Turning the Tables on the Podcast Host
Kristin – (Finally) Full-Time Science Coordinator
Merdeka – Tinny Perspective Switcher
Soli – on How to Add Emotion to Marine Governance
Solomon – Inventor of the “Bio Ocean”
Sharlene (Alumni) – Searching for Stakeholders in Antarctica and a PhD in Australia
Kimberley – About Fortune, Failure and Something Special
Welcome to the mini podcast series “Social Science Matters,” which is dedicated to exploring the important world of social science research in the marine environment.
Episode 0: Welcome
Episode 1: What is Social Science and Marine Social Science?
Episode 2: How to Start Thinking About Social Worlds
Episode 3: Before You Go Anywhere! Practical Concerns and the Matter of Ethics
News and articles on the topic
Science Communication – Bridging the Gap Between Scientific Research and Policy Implementation
My summer spent at the Helmholtz Institute of Functional and Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) has broadened my horizons and strengthened my research skills. The HIFMB allowed me to explore new areas of research and further develop my interests in advancing how we communicate complex scientific topics to the public.
Interdisciplinarity in Action: A Summer at the HIFMB
I was interested in coming to the HIFMB and becoming a part of the MARISCO project, to learn more about oceanic and interdisciplinary research as part of a summer Global Sustainability Scholars scheme. My coursework in environment and biology often mentioned the ocean, but it never went sufficiently into depth or breadth.
Oceans and Plastics Blog Series
Art-science collaborations and the ‘Ocean Decade’ – The United Nations (UN) Ocean Decade (2021-2030) is well under way. One of the primary aims in what the UN is calling a ‘revolution’, is to create an “inspiring and engaging ocean” where society understands and values the benefits of protecting the seas. However, asserting such universalising narratives are complex and never apolitical as there are many layers of communities who are often excluded from society.