This article focus is on the perceived impact that aquaculture industry has on coastal communities in Northern Norway. Here, aquaculture is key industry with natural, social and economic impacts. In ...natural resource management in general, identifying and monitoring the perceived social impacts can be a useful tool for local planning. In order to ensure the blue growth goals of the Norwegian government and avoid conflict and mistrust in the future, it is important to understand how both the general public and stakeholders perceive the aquaculture industry, how it affects them and its use of space in the coastal zone. Hence, we ask a) how do coastal communities perceive the aquaculture industry and b) is there a legitimacy gap between the blue growth strategies of the Norwegian Government and the public? In order to answer these questions, we lean on theories related to legitimacy and stakeholder's participation. Original data were collected from structured (N = 150) and semi-structured interviews (N = 10) in two coastal communities in Northern Norway (Alstahaug and Brønnøy). Our findings suggest that a legitimacy gap does exist between blue growth goals and fishers in the communities studied, while the general citizen holds a positive attitude towards aquaculture. Insights from this study are useful for local, regional and national decision makers with responsibility for natural resource policies and development efforts.
•Blue growth goals can be hampered if the legitimacy of aquaculture is low.•Authorities in coastal communities often overlook the social impacts of industries.•If different risk perceptions are not appreciated mistrust can be the result.•The general public has a positive attitude towards aquaculture.•A legitimacy gap does exist between blue growth goals and fishers.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Abstract
The proposed petroleum developments in the Lofoten, Vesterålen, and Senja are a controversial issue in Norway. We ask how insights into legitimacy and risk perception can help to illuminate ...the disputed policy process for petroleum developments in Lofoten, Vesterålen, and Senja. Our Q-methodology elicits three key narratives that steer the policy process: (i) best practice and knowledge does not permit coexistence, and fishing takes priority; (ii) coexistence is possible with good process where the nation-state manages risk; and (iii) the state and industry cannot facilitate coexistence, science and conservation come first. We argue these narratives reflect divergence in worldview in three key ways: (i) differential perspectives on the priority of local, national, and global scales; (ii) emphasis on the role of knowledge, skill, and rectitude in finding best policy; and (iii) differential concern for fish, the nation-state, and conservation. We argue for a more realistic approach to coexistence in deliberative democracy that does not aim for consensus and win-win outcomes, and assert that disagreement and partial victories and losses is a natural and healthy state of affairs in a democracy.
Meaningful engagement between scientists and stakeholders has been extensively promoted as a tool for increasing public participation in science, as well as for increasing the relevance and impact of ...scientific research. Yet, co-production of knowledge entails practical challenges, since participants with diverse worldviews, expertise and interests are expected to collaborate. These obstacles have not received enough attention, as current debate has focused more on the merits and principles of this approach. We address this gap by reflecting upon our experiences with both practical and methodological challenges stemming from research projects based on co-production of knowledge, thereby exposing what we see as common but under-discussed obstacles, as well as guidance for tackling them. We highlight the role of social scientists in the process not merely as facilitators but also as agents that promote critical reflection and safeguard the salience, credibility, and legitimacy of both the process and its outputs.
Integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into national legislation includes a need for their localization. The authors posit that this concept of localizing the SDGs is ...achieved if the goals are appended to an existing policy process with local implications, termed a "policy vehicle." For this study, Q-methodology was used to gather local perspectives on the legislative process for coastal planning in Norway (the "policy vehicle"), the "proxy" legislation through which the SDGs are localized for the case study municipality of Andøya, Norway. The overall aim of the study was to understand potential pathways for enabling approaches to societal transformations where focus is placed on fostering human agency and capacities. The authors demonstrate how Q-methodology can be applied for enhanced stakeholder engagement in local decision-making processes as a starting point to enable social transformations for sustainability in a social-ecological system.
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BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
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•Embedding scenarios of global change in local and regional contexts can support the identification of local adaptation challenges.•Comparability across local studies of adaptation ...challenges can be facilitated by using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) from the global scenario framework developed by the climate research community as common boundary conditions for identifying most significant and uncertain dimensions to potential future change.•Participatory scenario workshops are useful for producing site-specific narratives that articulate how potential future global change is perceived by local and regional stakeholders and form the basis for so-called extended socioeconomic pathways.•Results from four scenario workshops in the Barents region show that many local adaptation challenges relate to the global SSP elements but that an explicit local translation process, rather than simple downscaling, is fruitful for capturing the interactions with local and regional dynamics in terms of social, economic and cultural contexts.
A major challenge in planning for adaptation to climate change is to assess future development not only in relation to climate but also in relation to social, economic and political changes that affect the capacity for adaptation or otherwise play a role in decision making. One approach is to use scenario methods. This article presents a methodology that combines top-down scenarios and bottom-up approaches to scenario building, with the aim of articulating local so-called extended socio-economic pathways. Specifically, we used the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) of the global scenario framework as developed by the climate research community to present boundary conditions about potential global change in workshop discussion with local and regional actors in the Barents region. We relate the results from these workshops to the different elements of the global SSPs and discuss potential and limitations of the method in relation to use in decision making processes.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Finding the right way to move forward with seaweed cultivation requires the relevant stakeholders to reach agreement on what goals/limits to set and subsequently what measures should be taken to ...achieve them. Using a Q-method approach and an analytical framework based on in-put legitimacy and the four pillars of sustainability, we discuss the answers of a diverse set of stakeholders to the question: how should commercial seaweed cultivation in Scotland develop? Our results reveal three main discourses. The first focused on environmental and social sustainability, the second on accessing global markets, economic and environmental sustainability and the third prioritized jobs and social and institutional sustainability. The areas of consensus across the factors included the perception that large-scale and multi-national owned farms are not the ideal model for development of the industry in Scotland. All participants advised that the current regulatory regime for seaweed cultivation requires improvement. These results are discussed within the analytical framework and a prediction of the factors required to establish a legitimate seaweed cultivation industry in Scotland is presented.
Successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends on regional and local authorities’ ability to implement the goals in their respective contexts. Through a survey and ...interviews with informants in Norwegian municipalities and county councils, this paper explores and offers new empirical insight into (1) which factors can be identified as facilitating the implementation of the SDGs in Norwegian local and regional planning; (2) how the facilitating factors are conditioned by the different local and regional institutional contexts; and (3) how these factors from the Norwegian context correspond or differ from those in the international literature. We find that the existing Planning and Building Act is considered a suitable framework for the implementation of the SDGs in the Norwegian context, and that the SDGs are high on the national and regional governmental agendas. However, work remains in integrating the SDGs into underlying governmental activities. They must be incorporated into action plans and planning tools, which will require involvement, collaboration and development work across sectors and authority levels, and the development of guidelines for how this can be done. Allocating enough resources for this work will be crucial, and smaller municipalities may need other types and degrees of support than larger ones.
This paper explores what happens when the ideal of sustainable development meets the real and pressing problems in coastal zone planning. Insights into how coastal zone planners understand ...environmental problems and navigate political visions, knowledge requirements, stakeholder involvement and local conditions, are key to understanding how to develop a holistic approach in line with sustainable development. The paper applies Q-methodology to identify the dominant discourses and explore planners' perceptions and practices for sustainable coastal zone management. The Q sorts were realized in 2018-2019 in Northern Norway with planners in 10 small municipalities and 8 county level representatives. It is argued that it provides new insights into the challenges that planners face in striking a balance between the overarching values and the practical tasks that planners face in everyday planning; and that the interpretation of factors using Q-methodology should focus on all statements to ensure holism and avoid overlooking important information.
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Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are promoted as an important marine ecosystem management tool. However, they are complex systems that, from a governance perspective, raise serious challenges with ...regard to their effectiveness. In this paper, drawing on recent contributions to the so-called "interactive governance theory," we argue that marine and coastal governance is basically a relationship between two systems, a "governing system" and a "system-to-be-governed." The former system is social: it is made up of institutions and steering mechanisms. The latter system is partly natural, partly social: it consists of an ecosystem, and the resources that this harbours, as well as a system of users and stakeholders who, among themselves, form political coalitions and institutions. We need to be concerned with the relationship and the interaction between the governing system and the system-to-be governed, which forms a system in its own right. Governance theory argues that both systems and their interactions share similar attributes—they are diverse, complex, dynamic and vulnerable. This raises serious concerns as to their governability. There may be limits to what the governing system can do, limits attributed to one or all three systems. But such limits are themselves issues and concerns for planning and institutional design. In this paper we present, in the form of a governance matrix, the relevant issues and concerns with regard to the governability of MPAs.
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