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Stalmokaitė, I., Tafon, R., Saunders, F., Gee, K., Gilek, M., Armoškaitė, A., . . . Zaucha, J. (2025). Exploring social justice in marine spatial planning: planner and stakeholder perspectives and experiences in the Baltic Sea Region. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Exploring social justice in marine spatial planning: planner and stakeholder perspectives and experiences in the Baltic Sea Region
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2025 (English)In: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, ISSN 0964-0568, E-ISSN 1360-0559Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article contributes to the increasing traction of social justice in marine spatial planning (MSP) by exploring perceptions and experiences of social justice from the viewpoint of planners and different social groups who were included and (self)excluded in MSP processes. The study builds on empirical material from Poland, Latvia, and Germany consisting of interviews, MSP legislation, and documents that were analysed through the lens of a multidimensional social justice framework centring on recognition, representation, distribution, and capabilities. Results indicate that MSP institutional arrangements constrain possibilities for marginalised and less consolidated actor groups (residents, coastal tourism, and small-scale fisheries) to enjoy the same degree of recognition that is given to groups representing strategic national interests (renewable energy and shipping). We also highlight the role of planners’ self-reflectivity in enhancing/depriving capabilities of vulnerable social groups whose wellbeing and multidimensional relationships with the sea call for institutional responses adaptive to specific planning contexts. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2025
Keywords
capabilities, distribution, participation, recognition, social justice
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-52860 (URN)10.1080/09640568.2023.2279512 (DOI)001151327600001 ()2-s2.0-86000428669 (Scopus ID)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 46/2018
Available from: 2023-12-13 Created: 2023-12-13 Last updated: 2025-04-02Bibliographically approved
Tafon, R. & Saunders, F. (2025). Toward transformative youth climate justice: Why youth agency is important and six critical areas for transformative youth activism, policy, and research. PLOS Climate, 4(4), Article ID e0000472.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Toward transformative youth climate justice: Why youth agency is important and six critical areas for transformative youth activism, policy, and research
2025 (English)In: PLOS Climate, E-ISSN 2767-3200, Vol. 4, no 4, article id e0000472Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The involvement of youth in climate actions is increasingly recognized as critical to amore just and sustainable future. Despite progress in youth climate justice (CJ) activism, research and decision-making, gaps and challenges persist. Drawing on existing literature, first, we identify three key reasons for authorities to take youth involvement in climate actions seriously, namely (a) human rights and justice, (b) efficiency, and (c) legitimacy of policy actions. Second, we propose six critical areas for policy, research, and the youth movement to deliver transformative youth CJ: (1) closing the climate finance (i.e., adaptation and loss and damage) gap in a way that prioritizes youth-responsive activities, especially in climate impact-prone regions of the world; (2) adopting an intersectional approach to CJ that challenges homogenization of the youth CJ movement, accounts for the diverse experiences, needs and perspectives of different youth, and addresses intersecting structural forms of discrimination that particularly hamper the agency of racialized youth in the global South and North; (3) youth must recast their justice frameworks and channel their activism mode (e.g., buycott) toward challenging and resisting green extractivism, the necropolitical and ecocidal effects of which are concentrated in post-colonies and other racialized contexts; (4) knowledge co-production with youth must confront the risk of knowledge coloniality, extraction and power; (5) youth should engage in more-than-human CJ activism, recognizing the intertwined fate of youth and more-than-human nature; (6)as legitimate representatives of future generations, youth should consider claiming their space in legislative arenas to ensure the protection of future generations. The involvement of youth in climate actions is increasingly recognized as critical to amore just and sustainable future. Despite progress in youth climate justice (CJ) activism, research and decision-making, gaps and challenges persist. Drawing on existing literature, first, we identify three key reasons for authorities to take youth involvement in climate actions seriously, namely (a) human rights and justice, (b) efficiency, and (c) legitimacy of policy actions. Second, we propose six critical areas for policy, research, and the youth movement to deliver transformative youth CJ: (1) closing the climate finance (i.e., adaptation and loss and damage) gap in a way that prioritizes youth-responsive activities, especially in climate impact-prone regions of the world; (2) adopting an intersectional approach to CJ that challenges homogenization of the youth CJ movement, accounts for the diverse experiences, needs and perspectives of different youth, and addresses intersecting structural forms of discrimination that particularly hamper the agency of racialized youth in the global South and North; (3) youth must recast their justice frameworks and channel their activism mode (e.g., buycott) toward challenging and resisting green extractivism, the necropolitical and ecocidal effects of which are concentrated in post-colonies and other racialized contexts; (4) knowledge co-production with youth must confront the risk of knowledge coloniality, extraction and power; (5) youth should engage in more-than-human CJ activism, recognizing the intertwined fate of youth and more-than-human nature; (6)as legitimate representatives of future generations, youth should consider claiming their space in legislative arenas to ensure the protection of future generations.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2025
National Category
Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Research subject
EcoJust -Ecologically and Socially Just Sustainability Transformations
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-56975 (URN)10.1371/journal.pclm.0000472 (DOI)001488394500001 ()2-s2.0-105003026575 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2025-04-28 Created: 2025-04-28 Last updated: 2025-05-22Bibliographically approved
Tafon, R. V., Saunders, F., Zaucha, J., Matczak, M., Stalmokaitė, I., Gilek, M. & Turski, J. (2024). Blue justice through and beyond equity and participation: a critical reading of capability-based recognitional justice in Poland’s marine spatial planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 67(10), 2206-2228
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Blue justice through and beyond equity and participation: a critical reading of capability-based recognitional justice in Poland’s marine spatial planning
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2024 (English)In: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, ISSN 0964-0568, E-ISSN 1360-0559, Vol. 67, no 10, p. 2206-2228Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

While blue justice has gained traction, recognition and capability, which are necessary conditions for procedural and distributive justice, remain under-developed. We develop a four-dimensional blue justice framework that builds on recognition and capabilities to critically examine and advance justice in Poland’s marine spatial planning (MSP). We find that misrecognition of differential identities and capacities scripted powerless stakeholders out of participation and reduced possibilities for fair distribution. Conversely, MSP regulation augmented the rights of powerful actors through granting de jure “objecting” rights to some, inviting only strategic sectors to agenda-setting fora and, limiting MSP communication to meeting legal requirements. Several stakeholders also see defence and wind energy as key winners of MSP. While society will benefit from national security and energy sufficiency, especially given Russia’s increased weaponization of energy, many believe that financial profits from wind energy will accrue to developers. We offer governmental and planning measures to enhance capabilities. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2024
Keywords
capabilities of humans and nonhumans, equitable distributions, four-dimensional blue justice, marine spatial planning, recognition, representation, small-scale fishers and offshore wind energy
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Baltic and East European studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-51216 (URN)10.1080/09640568.2023.2183823 (DOI)000943493000001 ()2-s2.0-85149362801 (Scopus ID)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 46/2018
Available from: 2023-03-20 Created: 2023-03-20 Last updated: 2024-06-20Bibliographically approved
Saunders, F., Tafon, R., Knol-Kauffman, M. & Selim, S. A. (2024). Introductory commentary: Marine conflicts and pathways to sustainability in an era of Blue Growth and climate change. Maritime Studies, 23(1), Article ID 3.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Introductory commentary: Marine conflicts and pathways to sustainability in an era of Blue Growth and climate change
2024 (English)In: Maritime Studies, ISSN 1872-7859, E-ISSN 2212-9790, Vol. 23, no 1, article id 3Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Worldwide, marine conflicts are growing in frequency and intensity due to increasing global demands for resources (Blue Growth) and climate change. This article introduces a collection in Maritime Studies on marine conflicts and pathways to sustainability in an era of Blue Growth and climate change. We posit that while conflict can be problematic, it can also play a positive role in bringing about societal change, by highlighting unsustainable and unjust practices and be a trigger for sustainability transformation. However, left unattended, festering marine conflict can hinder just and equitable sustainability transformation. We present two distinct, yet arguably complementary, lenses through which researchers working with sustainability engage with marine conflicts. First, a social-ecological systems approach engages in conflicts by examining the interdependencies between human and ecological systems and related governance arrangements, promoting collaborative learning and action, and exploring adaptive governance strategies that seek sustainability conflict resolution. Second, a political ecology approach addresses conflicts by examining power dynamics and resource (mal)distributions, arguing for fair governance, and emphasizing the need to address historical and current injustices that are at the root of conflicts. Next, we present insights on diverse sustainability transformational pathways, including the importance of searching for common ground and the need for the reconfiguration of power relations as key steps to understand and inform sustainability conflict research. We conclude by indicating that more sustainability research in marine conflict settings is needed and by forwarding intersectionality as a promising approach to productively reframe and disrupt the debilitating effects of deep-rooted marine sustainability conflicts. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2024
Keywords
Blue growth, Marine conflict, Marine governance, Sustainability pathways, climate change, economic growth, governance approach, marine policy, power relations, strategic approach, sustainability
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-53240 (URN)10.1007/s40152-023-00347-9 (DOI)001136901100001 ()2-s2.0-85181438011 (Scopus ID)
Note

This work was performed as part of Belmont Forum’s CollaborativeResearch Action (CRA) on Ocean Sustainability with funding support from the following Belmont Forum members: Swedish ResearchCouncil for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning(Formas), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research[BMBF] and the Research Council of Norway. The authors are partof the CRA on Ocean Sustainability projects, OCEANSPACT and NOCRISES.

Available from: 2024-01-16 Created: 2024-01-16 Last updated: 2024-01-31Bibliographically approved
Gallardo Fernández, G. L., Avila, M., Saunders, F., Riquelme, R., Rodriguez, D., Aroca, G. & Gutierrez, J. (2024). Prospects of equitable and sustainable seaweed aquaculture: a case study of changing gender and socio-economic relations in Maullín, Chile. Maritime Studies, 23(1), Article ID 7.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Prospects of equitable and sustainable seaweed aquaculture: a case study of changing gender and socio-economic relations in Maullín, Chile
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2024 (English)In: Maritime Studies, ISSN 1872-7859, E-ISSN 2212-9790, Vol. 23, no 1, article id 7Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article examines the development of marine tenure in the Maullín River, Chile. It starts with the emergence of artisanal red algae (Gracilaria chilensis) gathering and the changes resulting from the governmental ad hoc allocation of small-scale aquaculture concessions. We aim to track this transition, its drivers, effects on the work organization, gender relations, market relations and the sustainability/equity challenges currently confronting the community. We use a feminist political ecology approach to direct our multi-method data collection strategy and to analyse the empirical material. The State by enabling local tenure for the development of marine aquaculture concessions played an influential role in Maullín community attaining de facto territorial tenure. This led to the establishment of residential aquaculture communities while facilitating the integration of women in aquaculture activities. We see both steps as positive economic and social development opportunities in Maullín. While marine tenure has provided livelihood chances, low prices caused by the producers’ disadvantaged market position and the lack of supportive alliance building pose ongoing problems. We conclude that these factors are serious challenges to the sustainability of aquacultural livelihoods at Maullín River. While the case depicts aspects of women’s empowerment such as their engagement in developing potential post-production innovation ideas, entrepreneurial abilities to conduct market transactions as well as their better competence in literacy, math and financial expertise, there is still a long way to reach gender equality in the male-dominated aquacultural sector. © 2024, The Author(s).

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Science+Business Media B.V., 2024
Keywords
Coastal communities, Gender, Gracilaria chilensis (pelillo), Political ecology, Small-scale aquaculture, Sustainability
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Environmental Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-53408 (URN)10.1007/s40152-024-00350-8 (DOI)001150406600001 ()2-s2.0-85182994516 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 1720
Note

Funders: (1) MEC:entry of women in small-scale fshing in Chile: cooperation or confict;granted to the second author MA by Conicyt in 2017. (2) FIPA 2017–10: determinationof ecosystem factors that favour the increase ofRhizocloniumspp. anddevelopment of a monitoring and control program for this pest speciesin the Region Los Lagos Project granted to the second author MA bythe Agency Fondo de Investigación Pesquera y Acuicultura in 2019;and (3) CHIC ANID FB210018 Cape Horn International Centre (associate researcher MA).

Available from: 2024-01-31 Created: 2024-01-31 Last updated: 2024-02-12Bibliographically approved
Tafon, R., Armoskaite, A., Gee, K., Gilek, M., Ikauniece, A. & Saunders, F. (2023). Mainstreaming coastally just and equitable marine spatial planning: Planner and stakeholder experiences and perspectives on participation in Latvia. Ocean and Coastal Management, 242, Article ID 106681.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Mainstreaming coastally just and equitable marine spatial planning: Planner and stakeholder experiences and perspectives on participation in Latvia
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2023 (English)In: Ocean and Coastal Management, ISSN 0964-5691, E-ISSN 1873-524X, Vol. 242, article id 106681Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Community participation and influence are vitally important for meeting the multidimensional sustainability aims of marine spatial planning (MSP) and more specifically for procedural and distributive justice. While participation has received substantial research interest, we identify a need to: 1) develop equity-based principles for coastal community participation that can be used to assess and reform MSP practices; 2) generate rich empirical accounts of coastal community participation and representation linked to real-world MSP practices. Here we present the results of a study that synthesizes critical MSP and blue justice scholarship to develop principles and indicators of coastally equitable and just planning. Drawing on interviews with planners and stakeholders and analysis of planning and legal documents, these principles are used to assess participatory processes linked to Latvian MSP practices in the period 2015 to 2019. Our analysis shows that equitable and just MSP needs to be based on participation that is timely, inclusive, supportive & localized, collaborative, methodical and impactful. When applied to the Latvian case these six principles provide a comprehensive and versatile heuristic approach to assess participation in MSP. In the context of Latvian MSP practices, we revealed a fundamental challenge of maintaining inclusive and localized participation throughout the full planning cycle. To counteract the successive narrowing/hardening of participatory space our results indicate a need for continuously promoting diversity of voices and perspectives, opportunities for collaborative sense making, visioning and critique. This will help to bridge diverse MSP divides (e.g., between land and sea, between local, national, and global values and priorities, between science and local knowledge, and between blue growth, conservation, and justice goals). If applied more generally in research and as part of MSP evaluation an equity-based approach can promote the mainstreaming of coastally just and equitable MSP practices. Finally, considering contextual factors (e.g., history, culture, power, legislation) that shape participation and representation is crucial when applying the equity principles to a particular MSP setting to acknowledge and accommodate its particular characteristics and challenges.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2023
Keywords
Just and equitable transformations; Blue economy; Marine spatial planning; Principles of participation; Coastal communities
National Category
Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Environmental Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-51955 (URN)10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2023.106681 (DOI)001028848000001 ()2-s2.0-85163179730 (Scopus ID)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 46/2018
Available from: 2023-07-10 Created: 2023-07-10 Last updated: 2023-08-23Bibliographically approved
Tafon, R., Saunders, F., Pikner, T. & Gilek, M. (2023). Multispecies blue justice and energy transition conflict: examining challenges and possibilities for synergy between low-carbon energy and justice for humans and nonhuman nature. Maritime Studies, 22, Article ID 45.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Multispecies blue justice and energy transition conflict: examining challenges and possibilities for synergy between low-carbon energy and justice for humans and nonhuman nature
2023 (English)In: Maritime Studies, ISSN 1872-7859, E-ISSN 2212-9790, Vol. 22, article id 45Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This paper explores deep insights into sustainability transition tensions and pathways in terms of place-based conflict and potential for synergies between offshore wind energy (OWE) development and justice for humans and nonhuman nature. Specifically, we build a capability and recognition-based multispecies blue justice framework that at once centers ecological reflexivity (i.e., environmental awareness-raising, proxy representation of nature, and institutional recognition and protection of rights of nature and human-nature relationality), decenters anthropocentric frames of justice, and sheds light on injustices, human and nonhuman that climate and energy transitions may create or reinforce. This framework then informs analysis of a sustainability transition conflict, specifically a longstanding OWE conflict on Hiiumaa island, Estonia. This analysis unravels justice concerns, human and nonhuman, raised by proxy representatives of nature (i.e., grassroots actors and environmental stewards), the knowledge contestations involved, and the resolution measures undertaken thus far. Next, we discuss the possible transformative role of the OWE conflict, including how a Supreme Court ruling invalidating the OWE plan has fostered reflexive planning and may have set a legal precedent that may have human and nonhuman justice implications for the handling of future planning cases. We then highlight remaining challenges for socially and ecologically responsive OWE deployment. These include the judicial non-recognition of nature’s right as well as environmental values and sociocultural ties to nature as rights worth protecting, and the likely effects that formalization of European Union ambitions to speed-up and ramp-up renewable energy could have locally. These include prospects for environmental stewards and ocean defenders to steer nature-positive, people-centered energy transitions. Last, we propose conditions for enhanced multispecies justice, including how formal interventions (e.g., law) and informal practices (e.g., negotiation, awareness-raising) can be harnessed to unlock productive conflict and align energy transitions with the norms of justice, human and nonhuman.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2023
Keywords
Multispecies blue justice, Ecological reflexivity and proxy representation of nature, Energy transition conflict, Capability and recognition of humans and nonhuman nature, Estonia’s offshore wind energy and marine spatial planning
National Category
Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Environmental Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-52443 (URN)10.1007/s40152-023-00336-y (DOI)001080575700002 ()2-s2.0-85173783663 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 2019-02368
Available from: 2023-10-06 Created: 2023-10-06 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved
Chaplin-Kramer, R., Neugarten, R. A., Gonzalez-Jimenez, D., Ahmadia, G., Baird, T. D., Crane, N., . . . Pascual, U. (2023). Transformation for inclusive conservation: Evidence on values, decisions, and impacts in protected areas. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 64, Article ID 101347.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Transformation for inclusive conservation: Evidence on values, decisions, and impacts in protected areas
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2023 (English)In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, ISSN 1877-3435, E-ISSN 1877-3443, Vol. 64, article id 101347Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

As countries consider new area-based conservation targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity, protected areas (PAs) and their impacts on people and nature are coming under increasing scrutiny. We review the evidence base on PA impacts, combining the findings from existing rigorous impact evaluations with local case studies developed for this study. We identify characteristics of PA establishment and management that improve the sustainability of biodiversity conservation and justice for local communities. We find that recognizing and respecting local values and knowledge about natural resource stewardship, colearning, and comanagement are key to achieving positive impacts for nature and people. Transforming PA governance toward more inclusive conservation depends upon the ability of PAs to be designed and implemented around the values and needs of local people. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2023
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Research subject
Environmental Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-52413 (URN)10.1016/j.cosust.2023.101347 (DOI)001084355500001 ()2-s2.0-85171797933 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2023-10-02 Created: 2023-10-02 Last updated: 2023-11-20Bibliographically approved
Tafon, R. V., Glavovic, B., Saunders, F. & Gilek, M. (2022). Oceans of Conflict: Pathways to an Ocean Sustainability PACT. Planning practice + research, 37(2), 213-230
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Oceans of Conflict: Pathways to an Ocean Sustainability PACT
2022 (English)In: Planning practice + research, ISSN 0269-7459, E-ISSN 1360-0583, Vol. 37, no 2, p. 213-230Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Festering ocean conflict thwarts efforts to realize the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. This paper explores transformations of ocean conflict into situated sustainability pathways that privilege human needs, justice and equity. We first outline the promise and limits of prevailing ocean/coastal governance practices, with a focus on marine spatial planning (MSP), which by framing conflict in shallow terms as use incompatibility, supports resolution strategies that privilege neoliberal technocratic-managerial and post-political models of consensual negotiation, thereby obscuring the structural inequalities, maldistributions and misrecognitions that drive deep-seated conflicts. Next, the distinctive features of the marine realm and ocean conflict are explained. Third, we outline the root causes, drivers and scale of conflict, with reference to history, climate, culture, governance, institutions and prevailing international socio-political conditions. Fourth, we reflect on the nature of conflict, exploring implications for shallow and deeper approaches of handling conflicts. Fifth, we highlight the implications of knowledge co-production for understanding and transforming conflict in pursuit of justice. Then, in response to the orthodoxies of MSP and prevailing conflict resolution strategies, we elaborate an alternative approach – Pragmatic Agonistic co-produced Conflict Transformation (PACT) for sustainability – sketching out key elements of a praxis that seeks to transform destructive interaction patterns of conflict into co-produced, constructive, scalable and ‘institutionalizable’ yet contestable and provisional sustainability knowledge-action.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2022
Keywords
Just, equitable and sustainable transformations; ocean conflict; marine spatial planning; pragmatic-agonistic institutional design; knowledge co-production
National Category
Other Social Sciences
Research subject
Other research area
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-45353 (URN)10.1080/02697459.2021.1918880 (DOI)000647075000001 ()2-s2.0-85105389057 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 2019-02368The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 46/2018
Available from: 2021-05-09 Created: 2021-05-09 Last updated: 2023-09-01Bibliographically approved
Gilek, M., Armoskaite, A., Gee, K., Saunders, F., Tafon, R. & Zaucha, J. (2021). In search of social sustainability in marine spatial planning: A review of scientific literature published 2005–2020. Ocean and Coastal Management, 208, Article ID 105618.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>In search of social sustainability in marine spatial planning: A review of scientific literature published 2005–2020
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2021 (English)In: Ocean and Coastal Management, ISSN 0964-5691, E-ISSN 1873-524X, Vol. 208, article id 105618Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

A number of commentators have argued that up until now marine/maritime spatial planning (MSP) research and practice have been dominated by blue economy and environmental concerns and have tended to neglect what might be regarded as social sustainability concerns. To gain more insight into the character and extent of such a gap, as well as how to address it, this article examines how social sustainability has been addressed in peer reviewed scientific articles on MSP between 2005 and 2020. Using search terms such as participation, democracy, social inclusion, social cohesion, equity we systematically identify and review 310 scientific articles that address diverse social sustainability concerns within MSP and marine governance. The review showed that very few papers systematically conceptualised or developed a coherent framework for engaging with social sustainability. Instead, they mostly addressed particular social concerns including participation and engagement, equity and social justice, socio-cultural values and preferences. Marine management and planning efficiency, as well as related instrumental framings of the merits of participation were the key arguments for including these dimensions of social sustainability in MSP. In terms of how to better include social sustainability in MSP, most attention was given to social-cultural mapping and ways to improve social inclusion/participation while also redressing exclusion and maldistribution of outcomes in MSP practice. We conclude that there is a need to deepen and diversify MSP inquiry with respect to social sustainability. In particular, scholars would do well to delve deeper and more broadly in social science literature to find inspiration on ways to understand and elucidate social issues. Here, the enormous body of relevant work on justice, power, critical institutionalism, political ecology and terrestrial planning literatures has hardly been tapped. It is also evident from this review that there is a need for both the academic and practice-based communities to more comprehensively address how the multidimensions of social sustainability interact with each other, as well as with economic and environmental aspects of marine planning and governance. Based on these observations, we highlight a set of suggestions on how to develop MSP research and practice on social sustainability. Most importantly, we argue that more in-depth co-production, linking scholars, practitioners and society actors, is needed. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2021
Keywords
Equity, Marine governance, Participation, Social sustainability, Sustainable development goals
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-45386 (URN)10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105618 (DOI)000663384400001 ()2-s2.0-85105019198 (Scopus ID)
Funder
The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, 46/2018
Available from: 2021-05-18 Created: 2021-05-18 Last updated: 2021-07-08Bibliographically approved
Projects
Marine Spatial Planning in the Baltic Sea Region – Integrating Scales, Sectors and Knowledge [27/2014_OSS]; Södertörn University; Publications
Kidd, S., Calado, H., Gee, K., Gilek, M. & Saunders, F. (2020). Marine Spatial Planning and sustainability: Examining the roles of integration - Scale, policies, stakeholders and knowledge. Ocean and Coastal Management, 191, Article ID 105182. Saunders, F. P., Gilek, M. & Tafon, R. (2019). Adding People to the Sea: Conceptualizing Social Sustainability in Maritime Spatial Planning. In: Jacek Zaucha; Kira Gee (Ed.), Maritime Spatial Planning: past, present, future (pp. 175-199). Cham: Palgrave MacmillanSaunders, F., Gilek, M., Day, J. C. C., Hassler, B., McCann, J. & Smythe, T. (2019). Examining the role of integration in marine spatial planning: Towards an analytical framework to understand challenges in diverse settings. Ocean and Coastal Management, 169, 1-9Tafon, R. V., Howarth, D. & Griggs, S. (2019). The Politics of Estonia's Offshore Wind Energy Programme: Discourse, power and marine spatial planning. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 37(1), 157-176Hassler, B., Blažauskas, N., Gee, K., Luttmann, A., Morf, A., Joanna Piwowarczyk, J., . . . Jacek Zaucha, J. (2018). BONUS BALTSPACE: Deliverable 2.7: New generation EU Directives and the role of transnational coordination: Marine Spatial Planning of the Baltic Sea. Huddinge: Södertörns högskolaTafon, R. V. (2018). Taking power to sea: Towards a post-structuralist discourse theoretical critique of marine spatial planning. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 36(2), 58-273Gilek, M., Saunders, F. & Stalmokaite, I. (2018). The Ecosystem Approach and Sustainable Development in Baltic Sea Marine Spatial Planning: The Social Pillar, a ‘Slow Train Coming’. In: David Langlet; Rosemary Rayfuse (Ed.), The Ecosystem Approach in Ocean Planning and Governance: Perspectives from Europe and Beyond (pp. 160-194). Nijhoff: Brill Nijhoff
Taking Social Sustainability to the Sea: Strengthening the Social Pillar in Marine Spatial [46/2018_OSS]; Södertörn University; Publications
Stalmokaitė, I., Tafon, R., Saunders, F., Gee, K., Gilek, M., Armoškaitė, A., . . . Zaucha, J. (2025). Exploring social justice in marine spatial planning: planner and stakeholder perspectives and experiences in the Baltic Sea Region. Journal of Environmental Planning and ManagementTafon, R. V., Saunders, F., Zaucha, J., Matczak, M., Stalmokaitė, I., Gilek, M. & Turski, J. (2024). Blue justice through and beyond equity and participation: a critical reading of capability-based recognitional justice in Poland’s marine spatial planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 67(10), 2206-2228Tafon, R., Armoskaite, A., Gee, K., Gilek, M., Ikauniece, A. & Saunders, F. (2023). Mainstreaming coastally just and equitable marine spatial planning: Planner and stakeholder experiences and perspectives on participation in Latvia. Ocean and Coastal Management, 242, Article ID 106681. Tafon, R. V., Glavovic, B., Saunders, F. & Gilek, M. (2022). Oceans of Conflict: Pathways to an Ocean Sustainability PACT. Planning practice + research, 37(2), 213-230Gilek, M., Armoskaite, A., Gee, K., Saunders, F., Tafon, R. & Zaucha, J. (2021). In search of social sustainability in marine spatial planning: A review of scientific literature published 2005–2020. Ocean and Coastal Management, 208, Article ID 105618. Kidd, S., Calado, H., Gee, K., Gilek, M. & Saunders, F. (2020). Marine Spatial Planning and sustainability: Examining the roles of integration - Scale, policies, stakeholders and knowledge. Ocean and Coastal Management, 191, Article ID 105182. Saunders, F., Gilek, M., Ikauniece, A., Tafon, R. V., Gee, K. & Zaucha, J. (2020). Theorizing Social Sustainability and Justice in Marine Spatial Planning: Democracy, Diversity, and Equity. Sustainability, 12(6), Article ID 2560. Saunders, F. P., Gilek, M. & Tafon, R. (2019). Adding People to the Sea: Conceptualizing Social Sustainability in Maritime Spatial Planning. In: Jacek Zaucha; Kira Gee (Ed.), Maritime Spatial Planning: past, present, future (pp. 175-199). Cham: Palgrave MacmillanGilek, M., Saunders, F. & Stalmokaite, I. (2018). The Ecosystem Approach and Sustainable Development in Baltic Sea Marine Spatial Planning: The Social Pillar, a ‘Slow Train Coming’. In: David Langlet; Rosemary Rayfuse (Ed.), The Ecosystem Approach in Ocean Planning and Governance: Perspectives from Europe and Beyond (pp. 160-194). Nijhoff: Brill Nijhoff
OCEAN Sustainability Pathways for Achieving Conflict Transformation (OCEANS PACT) [2019-02368_Formas]; Södertörn University; Publications
Saunders, F., Tafon, R., Knol-Kauffman, M. & Selim, S. A. (2024). Introductory commentary: Marine conflicts and pathways to sustainability in an era of Blue Growth and climate change. Maritime Studies, 23(1), Article ID 3. Tafon, R., Saunders, F., Pikner, T. & Gilek, M. (2023). Multispecies blue justice and energy transition conflict: examining challenges and possibilities for synergy between low-carbon energy and justice for humans and nonhuman nature. Maritime Studies, 22, Article ID 45. Tafon, R. V., Glavovic, B., Saunders, F. & Gilek, M. (2022). Oceans of Conflict: Pathways to an Ocean Sustainability PACT. Planning practice + research, 37(2), 213-230
JUSTLAND - Just and Sustainable Return of Land to Communities [2023-01609_Formas]; Södertörn University
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ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0003-2166-5717

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