Making the UN Ocean Decade work? The potential for, and challenges of, transdisciplinary research & real-world laboratories for building towards ocean solutions

Abstract

This paper provides a critical contribution to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030, outlining some of the core challenges of sustainable ocean governance and management by reflecting on modes and logics of interactions between ocean-related sciences, policy-makers and practitioners. In this regard, we give an overview of the potential for, and challenges of, transdisciplinary research which is essential to understanding the linkages between oceans and societies and thereby for attending to contemporary ocean concerns. The paper contributes both a review of transdisciplinary research and a particular format of transdisciplinary experimentation: Real-world Laboratories (RwLs). These are currently gaining traction as a method and approach for the co-creation of knowledge between the natural and social sciences and society to foster sustainability transformations. Altogether, we offer a first major contribution to synthesising knowledge on the potentials of marine RwLs, considering how they act as a way of exploring options for sustainable ocean futures through experimentation. Indeed, in the marine context, RwLs are under-explored but are a vital way for addressing the societal challenges of working towards transformations over the coming UN Ocean Decade.

The Spiekeroog Coastal Observatory: A Scientific Infrastructure at the Land-Sea Transition Zone (Southern North Sea)

“…The generated knowledge aims to develop coastal management options that suit human needs but also consider ecosystem health. A core concept of the realworld laboratory approach is the close cooperation with local stakeholders, thus a co-design, co-production, and co-evaluation of the experiments (Franke et al, 2021).…”

Reallabor Eckernförder Bucht 2030 – the first living lab covering sea, coast and land

“…Transdisciplinary research offers the opportunity to apply scientific research to real-world problems and thus contributes to solving societal problems (Pohl et al 2017), including marine topics (Grünhagen et al 2023). Living labs are a method in transdisciplinary research characterized by the following elements: it concerns a defined and limited space, it is participatory and involves stakeholders in the research, it aims to contribute to sustainable development, and experiments are conducted (Franke et al 2021;Rose et al 2018). Until now, living labs have been primarily used in the context of urban planning and neighbourhood development (Wanner et al, 2018).…”

Kāpiti Marine Reserve 30 years on: connections, practices, and management

“…The ocean provides a food source for over 3 billion people, and has cultural, recreational, and aesthetic value (Bennett et al, 2015; UNESCO-IOC, 2021b). If we once saw the ocean as an endless resource reservoir that humans could not impact, we now know this is not the case (Franke et al, 2021;Steinberg, 2001;Stel, 2021). However, we continue to negatively impact the ocean through pollution, extraction of raw materials, fisheries, and building infrastructure such as dams (Stel, 2021).…”

“…The ocean has often been perceived, particularly by Western scholars and writers, as an endless reservoir of resources for humankind (Franke et al, 2021;Steinberg, 2001;Stel, 2021). This attitude was depicted by Thomas Huxley, in an Inaugural Address for the Fisheries Exhibition in 1883, who declared that "probably all the great sea fisheries, are inexhaustible; that is to say, that nothing we do seriously affects the number of the fish.…”