WP 7: Stakeholder Engagement and Governance Strategies

PI: Michael Flitner, University of Bremen

The objective of WP 7 relates to transdisciplinary science and the analysis of the repercussions of environmental changes for marine governance regimes in Peru..Using workshops, interviews and surveys conducted in the case study localities Piura and Pisco (Peru) and Galapagos (Ecuador), this work package will ensure transdisciplinary integration of knowledge from the other work packages and stakeholder involvement with regard to research questions, modelled ecological, social and economic drivers, and a strong focus on adaptation and governance options. During the first year (2019-2020) the team will focus on the development of participatory future scenarios of the Peruvian upwelling system and depending social-ecological systems, and the analysis of coastal-marine governance, paying special attention to the Bays Independencia (Pisco) and Sechura (Piura). To this end, individual, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions will be held with fishers, seafarers, tourism operators and members of public and private entities. Throughout the second year (2020-2021), the team will carry out an investigation in Galapagos in relation to social-ecological networks. Galapagos is an important case study for the project because it allows us to understand in greater depth the relationships between the tourism and fishing sectors and their relationship with factors of change that trigger tipping points. During the projects time, two doctoral theses and several master's thesis and parallel research lines will be carried out in order to explore other key aspects of the marine social-ecological system such as migration of marine resource users, the role of women in fisheries or the concept of value along the chain of production. In the last year of the project, the group is intending to use the scientific advances of the project, e.g. in relation to the tipping points of the socio-ecological system detected in the other working packages, to jointly explore mitigation and adaptation measures to their possible effects. Therefore, the synergy between scientific knowledge and local knowledge, as well as collaboration between the diversity of stakeholders and users is fundamental.