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Transformation has become a prevailing and desirable concept in blue economy literature. In parallel, researchers have been considering ways to effectively engage stakeholders to support just transformational agendas. Globally, coastal communities are already being affected by the inevitable impacts of climate change and changes to the blue economy. These pressures present complex contexts for coastal zone stakeholder engagement. In this paper, I argue that taking a systems integration approach to interacting with stakeholders is needed to support just transformational change. Assessing stakeholder systems and their relationship to coastal resources is imperative for understanding dynamics that may promote or hinder just transformation. Taking an adaptive management approach to working alongside stakeholders through transitional processes, thus building capacity, is needed to generate momentum toward just transformational change. Lastly, I explain how applications of the subsidiarity principle in integrating stakeholder systems can support a just transformational process and can inform more durable transformational outcomes.

Emerging literature on coastal transitions in the face of the climate crisis establishes a need for identifying appropriate stakeholder engagement processes for

The United States’ seaweed industry is worth over $300 million annually thanks in part to the rising popularity of seaweed-based products. Seaweed has myriad uses and great potential for novel product innovation and development while also providing numerous environmental benefits including carbon and nitrogen sequestration and other crucial ecosystem services . One of the most promising and prevalent species under domestic cultivation is Saccharina latissma. Also known as sugar kelp, this abundantly grown cold-water species dominates the edible seaweed market in the United States . This paper provides an in-depth geographical analysis of the current state of the U.S. sugar kelp industry, comparing regional market differences and opportunities for growth in Maine, Alaska, and Connecticut. Data was collected from the 2020 National Sea Grant Seaweed Symposium (https://seaweedhub.org/symposium/) and through a series of semi-structured interviews with key industry participants, yielding insights into the challenges that seaweed stakeholders face across the country. Proposed solutions for increasing the profitability of sugar kelp are explored and include market differentiation through regional origin labels, eco-labels, and quality labels.

We designed and implemented a discrete choice experiment to assess how information about the health, environmental, and economic benefits of locally produced aquaculture products affect Connecticut consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for products produced in the state, as compared with products from another state or another country. We find that information about local economic benefits tended to increase WTP for Connecticut-grown and -raised products, whereas information about health, safety, and the environment tended to decrease WTP for products from other regions. We also explore heterogeneous effects of the information treatments by respondent gender, education, and income. © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Despite repeated calls for more inclusive practices, approaches used to address current challenges within the ocean-climate nexus do not sufficiently account for the complexity of the human-social-ecological system. So far, this has prevented efficient and just decision-making and policies. We propose to shift towards systems-informed decision making, which values transdisciplinary system-thinking and cumulative impact assessments, and encourages multi-system collaboration among decision-makers in order to address the recurring technicality of policies and to foster just solutions that account for the needs of varied actors across the sustainable development spectrum.

Fieldwork is often cited as one of the most important and effective parts of geography education, despite increasing scrutiny over its environmental and financial cost. As a result, it is imperative that any overseas fieldwork is as impactful as possible, enabling deep experiential learning. Here, we investigate the success of a joint field trip (Liverpool John Moores University, UK and Southern Connecticut State University, USA) to East Iceland. Such field trips are rare but have the potential to be extremely impactful on both cohorts of students. We outline the origins of the field trip, the considerations taken into account during planning, and the student skills we embedded into teaching. Surveys and interviews demonstrated that the field trip was highly successful, with students reporting excellent development of environmental and global awareness as well as research and leadership skills. Students also developed strong, lasting social networks, including those in the alternate university, and in Iceland. Cohorts responded similarly, suggesting that the trip presents similar opportunities to all students. We demonstrate that undertaking a joint field trip can deliver huge benefits to students, becoming a “perspective changing, and a once in a lifetime opportunity” affecting future study and career choices.

Background: It is crucial to support students in better understanding water and sustainability issues because water plays a vital role in maintaining global ecosystems, including human life. A wide range of curricular and instructional supports like those embodied in model-based learning (MBL) are necessary for teachers to engage students in the core epistemic commitments of the Next-Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to inform theory about students’ early attempts to engage in the complex kinds of sensemaking experiences inherent in the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the NGSS. Sample: Data for this study was collected from 74 10th grade students in a high school in the Northwest region of the New England state. Design and Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed-method research design was used to examine students’ learning outcomes, and to better understand these outcomes in connection to their experiences engaging in modeling in the MBL curriculum unit. Results: The results indicated that students’ model scores, the number of concepts in models, and the coherence and sophistication of models improved between their initial and final models. Additionally, the following patterns emerged related to ways in which students engaged in the practice of modeling: (1) students attempted to directly represent what they observed, (2) they struggled to pictorially express complex patterns or mechanisms, and (3) students experienced difficulties representing models from a diverse range of perspectives. Conclusion: The patterns identified across student models, as well as their reports of experiences related to the MBL unit implementation, provided insight into student experiences with models, while also providing meaningful implications for the refinement of the MBL curriculum unit investigated in this research specifically, while informing approaches MBL curricular units aimed at supporting NGSS implementation efforts more generally. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.