Sharing What We Do About the Oceans

Please click on the link below to participate in the survey and/or share it with the people in your network. We encourage you to complete the survey by January 31, 2022.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScQE8b_raklmw6rMhwmFeBhmst4DF5AfgeqLXcuf9VkdQFV2w/viewform?usp=sf_link

About the survey

Oceans are social-ecological complex ecosystems, requiring a broad range of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge to fully understand their structures and functions and their current and potential societal contributions. Growing coastal population, rapid development of ocean-based industries and unsustainable resource utilization are among many stressors and pressures affecting the health of the ocean, and of life below and above water.

One of the key elements that can help improve understanding about the ocean is through knowledge sharing and integration, noting in particular that what is known about the ocean comes from various sources. Likewise, what is needed to address challenges facing the ocean would require collaboration of people with different knowledge and experience, including local and traditional users of the oceans. Such a diverse and inclusive approach is imperative for achieving fisheries and ocean sustainability.

Social science and humanity scholars have long been interested in the ocean, as observed in numerous books, poems, songs and paintings published and produced over the years. Their work may not be well known to people working in the natural side of the ocean, and there might not be many opportunities for scholars from different disciplines to interact and collaborate. A knowledge-sharing platform is being created to help facilitate collaboration in ocean-related research, and as a contribution to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).

One of the initiatives for the knowledge-sharing platform is to develop an inventory of social sciences and humanities (SSH) researchers interested in ocean-related topic. The need for such an inventory was identified when the SSH researchers in Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) begun to work collaboratively with other OFI researchers, and also with government agencies, especially Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) in the Maritimes Region. A small group of OFI SSH researchers have thus developed a survey to inventory this research, which will help researchers, government scientists, policymakers and other stakeholders to learn about who's doing what in ocean-related research, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration and partnership.