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Geography has engaged in insightful discussions on how to understand, analyze, criticize, and implement the blue economy. United Nations agencies, Small Island Developing States, and increased academic interest in oceans have played important roles in the global adoption of the blue economy idea, that is, the sustainable exploitation of marine and coastal resources. Geographical research on the blue economy has addressed key themes such as economic and political discourse, relational thinking and assemblage, sustainability and just transitions, and blue economy risks.

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

As anthropogenic impacts such as climate change ensue, coastal regions become increasingly threatened. Transdisciplinary action research (TAR) emerged as a

Offshore renewable, or Blue Energy, installations are a crucial component of many countries’ energy policies and pathways towards a sustainable low-carbon

This book presents state-of-the-art perspectives on the Blue Economy. It applies important geographical and sustainability transitions perspectives and

The recent attention on Blue Carbon (BC) signals its importance in the burgeoning Blue Economy discourse. BC has traditionally referred to carbon that is

While the ocean space has long been ignored by social sciences, the past 15 years have witnessed an increased interest in the marine environment by scholars in Human Geography. The academic literature on the blue economy, almost non-existent a few years ago, is now burgeoning. The academic debate has offered some critical assessment of blue economy initiatives, but more needs to be done to address the true place of environmental protection within a blue economy, and to put people at the centre of concerns and analyses. Of particular concern, is the ambiguity of the blue economy concept and the confusion over its social and environmental sustainability, which can ultimately result in harmful practices. An important question is then how should social scientists in general and geographers, specifically, engage with these debates, and in particular how should the potential human and social costs of the blue economy be investigated and addressed while assuring justice and fairness? The papers presented here share the vision that environmental sustainability, justice and equality should be at the heart of the blue economy; not just conceptually, but practically too. The papers pursue efforts to identify blue economy risks and the mechanisms through which they occur; assess the place of inclusion and participation in a sustainable blue economy; define what blue economy policies should include to drive just and sustainable practices; and identify where the dominant understandings of the blue economy and its priorities are coming from. In other words, they put considerations of justice and broader cultural structures at the centre of their concerns and analysis. They also highlight the need to bypass geographical boundaries and gain insights from other disciplines and methodologies to grasp such an encompassing concept, and foster not just a blue economy with social justice, but a blue economy for social justice.

At a time of substantial interest in the Blue Economy, it is surprising that sustainability dilemmas and justice components are not well integrated within its academic discourse or policy arena. Reviewing a number of existing U.S. coastal and marine policies, we identify that justice and equity components are essentially missing and advocate for a comprehensive policy framework for a just and inclusive transition for the Blue Economy. Looking forward, we review and critique the policy proposal of Elizabeth Warren’s Blue New Deal. While the current state of the Blue New Deal remains uncertain, we indicate that such a policy framework would integrate justice, equity and inclusivity as part of operationalising the Blue Economy. Given the proposal for a Blue New Deal is relatively new, we propose a research agenda to explore how comprehensive policy frameworks may seek to place justice and inclusivity at the centre of the Blue Economy.

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.

Flowers of Jaltomata weigendiana (Solanaceae) secrete red nectar that is visible through the partially translucent corolla. We report the pattern of nectar presentation during the sexual phases of the flower and characterize the breeding system. Comparison of flower sets experiencing daily removal starting Day 1 with flowers that accumulated nectar for one or two days prior to daily removal revealed no discernible effect on the life-of-the-flower nectar production, sugar production and floral longevity. Flowers produce about the same cumulative volume of nectar during the two sexual phases. However, cumulative nectar sugar production is about 4 times higher during the male phase. Nectar standing crop ranged from 4–26.6 µl for Day 1 flowers and 0–8.7 µl for flowers from which nectar was removed the previous day. With daily removal of nectar, 21 of 40 flowers contained no nectar during the last day of the flower’s life. All unmanipulated flowers developed fruits (autonomous self-pollination). However, manual self-pollinations and manual cross-pollinations resulted in fruits that weighed significantly more and had significantly more seeds than fruits produced by autonomous self-pollination. Protogyny and herkogamy promote cross-pollination, but delayed autonomous selfing at the end of the flower’s life ensures seed set if pollinator-mediated pollination fails.

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.

The fourth edition of this text has been thoroughly updated and includes expanded chapters on Antarctica and outer space as well as new chapters on the geography of elections and the geography of war and peace. A chapter is devoted to outlaws and merchants of death which covers piracy, drug trafficing, the arms trade, and terrorism. Other additions include coverage of international economic sanctions, transnational corporations, refugees, and pollution across international boundaries. -from Publisher

In 1901 Goode obtained his doctorate - only the second in the USA to break away from the geology/physiography tradition. As his career developed he increasingly specialized in cartography, developed coloured wall maps for Rand McNally, and an interrupted homolosine projection. His name has survived on a school atlas for over 60 years. There is a chronological bibliography and a summary of his life.-K.Clayton