Shaping Blue Growth // Social Sciences at the Nexus Between Marine Renewables and Energy Policy
By Sandy Kerr, Laura Watts, Ruth Brennan, et al. The development of the Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) industry is part of the EC Blue Growth Strategy. It brings together a range of relationships across people, sea, and energy, from developers to local communities and policymakers. This calls for diverse approaches, moving beyond an oppositional mindset to one that can establish an inclusive community around MRE development. Ownership of the marine environment is a legal issue, but MRE devices operate within a cultural and emotional
sense of place. Early, sustained community engagement and advocacy is cru
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cial to developing an industry whose impacts are likely to be felt before its
social benefits materialise. Crucially, local communities could be supported
by Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) research in creating new mytholo
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gies and imaginaries through which MRE technologies become an integral
part of their culture, as well as part of their biophysical environment. A
complex physical, political, and legal environment provides the context for
these new marine energy technologies, and its development provides oppor
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tunities for SSH research to address issues around the sea and to integrate
into the design of new marine energy seascapes.
Published
2018