Find information on our upcoming and past webinars below. We’re always on the lookout for webinar speakers. If you are interested in presenting your work to the MarSocSci community, send us an email to [email protected]!
Upcoming webinars…
Check back for more information coming soon!
Catch up on our past webinars below…
Equality Diversity and Inclusivity Series – collaboration with the Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources and the Social Science Task Group
In collaboration with the Sustainable Management of Marine Resources (SMMR – https://www.smmr.org.uk/,) and the MSCC Social Science Task group, we recently held a series of seminars on EDI (Equality, Diversity and Equality) and the marine environment. The aim of these sessions was to promote understanding of the relationship between EDI and the marine environment and how these topics may influence societal engagement and participation with marine and coastal spaces. The seminars provided an opportunity to learn from and engage with a series of experts, including accomplished researchers and practitioners, and share best practice and establish evidence gaps.
Session 1: Race and Ethnicity
This first seminar featured speakers on the topic of Ethnicity and Race, with presentations from Dr Anjana Khatwa (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-anjana…) and Zandile Ndhlovu from The Black Mermaid Foundation (https://www.blackmermaid.co.za/).
Below are some links from the chat during the session which may be of interest:
https://chilternrangers.co.uk/ https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/feat… https://ecosikhuk.org/43-2/meet-the-t… https://www.backbone.uk.net/
Session 2: Access and Disability
The second of the series is on the topic of ‘Disability and Access’ and will include the following speakers: Dr Sheena Asthana (University of Plymouth) Sheena is a Professor at the University of Plymouth and works in health and education with a particular interest in social deprivation in coastal communities, including sustainability and resilience of coastal communities and access to opportunities. More information: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/shee… Geoff Holt (CEO Wet Wheels foundation) Wet Wheels was conceived and founded by Geoff Hold with the vision to ensure everyone can access the marine environment with a safe, barrier free enriching experience. Wet Wheels offers a unique opportunity for disabled and disadvantaged people of all ages, helping to broaden aspirations, increase confidence and directly impact on health and wellbeing. More information: https://wetwheelsfoundation.org/about…
Useful Links: https://bluehealth2020.eu/ https://sophie2020.eu/ https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/c…
Session 3: Gender
Our first speaker is Dr Madeleine Gustavsson, a researcher at Ruralis in Norway, and has a background in researching women in fisheries. Her research interests also includes exploring gender relations and identities, and the changing of roles and wellbeing of women in fishing families: https://ruralis.no/en/employees/madel…
Our second speaker will be Katja Hrzic, a PhD student at the University of Glasgow and is currently undertaking a research synthesis on women in fisheries for Marine Scotland. Katja’s interests include international labour migrations in fisheries, of which she is studying as part of her PhD: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/ges/com…
Session 4: Youth Voices
This final session of our EDI series focuses on Youth Voices. Our first speakers will be from the Marine Conservation Society, who will be speaking about some of their work engaging with different youth communities across the UK, including their Wild Coast Sussex project.
Our second speaker is Mhairi McCann. Mhairi is Youth STEM 2030’s Founder & CEO and has a strong belief in the positive difference young people can make to our world through STEM. Mhairi is a National Geographic Young Explorer, the first in Scotland, and over the past 5 years she has driven more meaningful youth involvement across several organisations nationally and internationally. For her work with Youth STEM 2030, Mhairi was named as one of the UK’s Top 50 Women in Sustainability in 2020, and in the NAAEE’s global 30 Under 30 for Environmental Education in 2021. Mhairi’s experience in the SDGs resulted in her being elected to the Steering Group of SDG Network Scotland and presenting a series of educational videos about the SDGs for BBC Bitesize. She currently represents Scotland as a member of the World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council, and took over 53,000 pieces of plastic out the river Clyde in 104 weekly beach cleans each Saturday of 2020 & 2021. Mhairi is keen to connect and work with organisations who want to meaningfully embed young people’s voices into their decision-making.
Tuesday 14 September | 5pm BST | Dr Nathan Bennett | Equity and Justice in the Ocean| Watch the recording
In this webinar, we welcome Nathan Bennett, PhD (nathanbennett.ca) – Independent Consultant and Chair of the People and the Ocean Specialist Group, International Union for the Conservation of Nature – for this talk on Equity and Justice in the Ocean. The oceans are experiencing a rapid acceleration of both conservation and development activities. When poorly implemented or left unchecked, these activities can lead to environmental and social injustices for the coastal communities and populations who inhabit and rely on the ocean for livelihoods, food security, and cultural survival. In this talk, I will examine the types of social injustices that are occurring in the ocean, discuss how social equity can be taken into account in efforts to promote ocean sustainability, and explore priority areas for future marine social science research on equity and justice in the oceans. My aim is to encourage greater engagement with equity and justice considerations in all ocean-focused organizations and in all decision-making processes related to ocean governance and management.
Thursday July 22| Dr Pam Buchan | Citizens of the Sea Webinar | Hosted by OCT and MarSocSciPlym
Dr Pamela Buchan’s PhD thesis entitled “Investigating marine citizenship and its role in creating good marine environmental health” is an interdisciplinary and holistic investigation of marine citizenship. In this session, co-hosted by Ocean Conservation Trust and MarSocSciPlym, as part of OCT’s Ocean Literacy week, Pam joined Nicola Bridge from OCT to tell us about her recent PhD. Pam’s research used mixed methods to survey, interview and ethnographically observe marine citizens undertaking marine citizenship activities. The data was used to update the definition of marine citizenship to better incorporate the right to participate in the transformation of the human-ocean relationship and the political aspects of active citizenship. Through this lens marine citizenship is more than a set of pro-environmental behaviours. The research identified ways in which all the basic human values can connect to the ocean and marine citizenship. It uncovered a special relationship with the sea in which marine citizens are emotionally attached to and dependent upon the marine environment; and feel thalassophilia, or love of the sea, towards its particular material nature and what it means culturally. Positive, sensory experience of the sea seems to underpin this marine place attachment. The findings signposted towards a theoretical basis for a marine identity which could be the driver of marine citizenship.
Wednesday July 21 |1:30pm BST |Luciana Esteves| Bournemouth University | Integrated Assessments of Social Vulnerability and Coastal Exposure – Academic exercise or useful for policy and decision-making?| Watch the recording
This webinar aims to stimulate an interactive discussion on the challenges and usefulness of assessing coastal vulnerability integrating socioeconomic and biophysical indicators. It is often claimed that coastal vulnerability indices are useful to inform disaster risk reduction, coastal planning and management, climate change adaptation and more. However, very few papers discuss how the results can be applied in practice or present evidence of actual application. The recently published article by Ballesteros and Esteves (2021) will be presented and used as a starting point for the discussion. This paper produced an integrated assessment of social vulnerability and exposure to coastal hazards for East Africa (Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya and Madagascar) and evaluated the role of coastal habitats in reducing exposure. The integrated assessment was used to identify ‘priority’ and ‘critical’ concern areas and priority areas for conservation of natural habitats. After the presentation, participants will be invited to discuss the challenges of producing and applying these integrated assessments. To help discussions, you are encouraged to read the paper beforehand.
Ballesteros, C. and Esteves, L.S., 2021. Integrated Assessment of Coastal Exposure and Social Vulnerability to Coastal Hazards in East Africa. Estuaries and Coasts, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-00930-5.
Tuesday 6th July | 1pm BST | Ben McAteer| The Role of Community Science | Watch the Recording
During this webinar, Ben McAteer will present his study, which explores how community science, by speaking to the needs and requirements of volunteers, can more efficiently realise its potential as a solution to the challenges facing marine conservation. By categorising volunteers based upon their motivations, desired personal outcomes and perceptions of participation, this paper reveals several key factors that are seen to both support and inhibit the ability of volunteers to maximise their contribution. The findings suggest that community science projects should broaden their evaluative scope, support a wider range of participation pathways, and pay increased attention to the alignment between a participant’s motivations, desired outcomes and the knowledge that they are most interested in.
Wednesday 9th June | 2pm BST | Diz Gilthero | Process and Reflections on Co-developing a National Ocean Literacy Strategy | Watch the recording
We are excited to welcome Dr Diz Glithero, National Lead of the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition (COLC) and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, to the MarSocSci Webinar Series. Diz will share how and why a unique alliance of Canadian universities, ocean science, education, and conservation NGOs, government, businesses, artists, and ocean/water enthusiasts across Canada mobilized to co-lead the national study, Understanding Ocean Literacy in Canada (2019 – 2020), creating the first baseline of ocean literacy in Canada. The findings and recommendations from this study provided the evidence-based understanding and momentum upon which the recently launched Land, Water, Ocean, Us: A Canadian Ocean Literacy Strategy was co-developed. Diz will share a very candid and illustrative snapshot of the project – the approach and process of co-developing the National Strategy, what worked, challenges, lessons learned, and a look ahead. Together, we will discuss and explore ways of how any aspects of these recent efforts in Canada can be of use or support what each of us are doing in our own respective and collective work.
Project website: www.colcoalition.ca
Thursday 13th May | 1pm BST | Dr Easkey Britton | 50 Things to do by the sea | Watch the recording
Friday 26th April | 2pm BST | Phil Loring, Emily De Sousa and Hannah Harrison | Podcasts and Academia | Watch the recording
Thursday 25th March | Peter J.S. Jones | Analysis and discussion of marine protected area governance (MPAG) case
studies: Challenges of decentralisation in the shadow of hierarchy | Watch the recording
Thursday 11th February | Dom Williamson, Caroline Hattam, Louisa Evans | Co-producing an understanding of the needs and priorities of coastal communities | Watch the recording
The team have kindly put together a Q&A document answering further questions we were unable to get to during the webinar! Take a look here.
Friday 13th November | Dr. Dylan McGarry, Dr. Kira Erwin and Anna James | Creativity in knowledge co-production for Ocean Governance, the story of Empatheatre | Watch the recording
One of the innovative undertakings of the GCRF One Ocean Hub (OOH) project is to use arts-based and creative approaches in integrated ways throughout the life of the project, to help achieve its transdisciplinary, transformative goals, which include the bringing together of different forms of transformative goals, which include the bringing together of different forms of knowledge related to ocean governance, and enhancing the participation of marginalised communities in ocean decision making.
Wednesday 30th September | Glen Smith | From climate change ‘resilience’ to situated understandings of what it means to adapt | Watch the recording
This third MarSocSci Webinar from Glen Smith, presents research that relates to efforts to adapt to climate change in Ireland’s coastal and marine environments. Two comparative case studies are used to explore a range of risks and opportunities that exist in these environments.
Monday 24th August | Dr. Patrick Heidkamp | Engaging the Blue Economy through Transdisciplinary Action Research | Watch the recording
Through a review of Project Blue @ Southern Connecticut State University which focuses on engaging the Long Island Sound Blue Economy and with a focus on one specific example—the burgeoning Long Island Sound seaweed industry—the talk and subsequent discussion hopes to outline some of the challenges and opportunities in developing such an action research program.
Monday 13th July | Sarah Young | The Marine Pioneers Projects | Watch the recording here
The Marine Pioneer projects in England were set up to test practical application of the “natural capital” approach to environmental management (giving nature a value). What they discovered is…. the value of social capital! Hear stories and lessons from the North Devon Marine Pioneer collaboration with important implications for future marine management. View the slides here | Additional useful resources and information.