Marine Social & Cultural Sciences

The Social and Cultural Sciences Strategy Group provides a forum for a very diverse community of scientists who are concerned with the ever-increasing impact of humans on the marine ecosystem and the impact of these changes on humans. 

The sea is being used more and more intensively by mankind and is thus becoming more and more significant. Whether in terms of traditional uses, such as food production, shipping routes and coastal development, or in terms of new uses, e.g. as a sink for carbon dioxide, through diving tourism, aquarium trade or deep-sea mining. Thus, humans also have an ever greater influence on the marine ecosystem and anthropogenic pressure on coasts and seas is steadily increasing. The increase in importance is also reflected in the increase in political attempts at regulation and negotiation processes at national, regional and international level. The recently published EU communication ‘International Ocean Governance: An Agenda for the Future of our Oceans’ illustrates this once again.

In this respect, the need to scientifically survey and analytically reflect on governance mechanisms, social forms of organisation and visions of the future related to the sea and its resources is also steadily increasing. This is also expressed in the increasing demand for corresponding social and cultural science expertise – especially on the part of policy-making, science management and international non-governmental organisations. The members of this strategy group contribute with their expertise to the processing of current questions.

The following four thematic areas are the focus of our interest:

• Marine governance for sustainable development
• Marine & coastal transformation research
• Social-ecological & technological systems analysis
• Marine Peace and Conflict Research

Members

Contact

• Tanja Bogusz
• Annegret Kuhn
• Achim Schlüter