In the Shilo landscape, military training exercises have proven to mimic some of the natural history of the area - recreating now-rare habitat. This controlled activity is creating positive in-situ biodiversity outcomes.

The high-intensity, short-duration disturbances created by military training activities create habitat conditions no longer found in the larger landscape. These disturbances include prescribed burns and artillery practice, which enhance biodiversity by preventing tree encroachment on areas of mixed-grass prairie and mimicking historical disturbance regimes such as wildfire or bison activity.

In addition, for security and safety reasons, the Department of National Defence prohibits unauthorized access. Closure to the public restricts activity on the site, eliminating many activities that could have a negative impact on biodiversity.

The primary mandate of Canadian Forces Base Shilo is to provide a space for military training. This mandate takes priority in a case of conflict with conservation objectives, although measures are taken to mitigate possible impacts on biodiversity.

This building block has two phases. In Phase 1 of the solution researchers involved in the project identify visions of desired futures for this landscape from data obtained in previous two blocks. Initial visions developed for our study area can be found in this Deliverable (see link below). These visions are never fully final, they are further improved / developed when new information is available. They provide lay of the land so-to-speak for decision-makers on different levels and stakeholders themselves of various interests in the landscape and how they collide or align together.

Second phase of this building block focuses on reflexivity – both among researcher team members who have developed these visions and ideally also a few stakeholders. For the former such reflexivity is needed to identify and be aware of all possible biases and preconceptions that they have introduced in visions while analysing data and developing them. For example, often if a researcher has worked in the area for a long time, they might rely on knowledge that was obtained outside this data collection and this needs to be acknowledged. Reflexivity among stakeholders on the other hand is needed in order to 1) validate developed visions, 2) foster a deliberation process during which new / modified visions representing shared or joint ideas could emerge.

This building block aims to complement previous one in collecting data that is then used to collate existing visions for the landscape and PAs in it. 2020 has demonstrated that in-person interaction is not always a possibility and thus other modes, such as online ones need to be employed in order to achieve the same goals. In case of our study it was clear that in order to reach wide audience and cover as diverse of a group as possible, we also needed to employ online surveys. We have created one with elements of mapping, using specially designed platform for such tasks, Maptionnaire. This survey has followed up on several aspects already covered in interviews (see building block 1) such as different values people see in the landscape. This was done to create a baseline and see if samples in both online and in-person surveys are similar in their valuation of the landscape. In addition online survey covered such aspects as perceptions of quality of life in the area (for example, noise pollution levels, availability and quality of nature areas) and asked participants to pin-point on the map areas where landscape change occurred in last 20 years, both they considered positive and negative.

This building block aims to collect necessary data from a diverse group of local actors (stakeholders, residents and others) that will allow to identify their visions for the landscape and protected areas in it. To do so we employed in-person interviews with elements of participatory mapping and art-based visuals. To guide the interviews, we used an approach called STREAMLINE, a series of A3 laminated canvas on which respondents were answering questions. This questions and canvas were organized around a narrative making it more intuitive and engaging for respondents. They started with establishing their relationship to the area, which parts of it they knew and then progressed to asking questions about importance of different landscape functions and how and where respondents wanted this landscape to develop.

Marine habitats sustain critical biodiversity and fish stocks that support the livelihoods of coastal communities across Honduras and the world. Healthy oceans and well managed fisheries ensure continuous benefits for those who depend on them during good times and bad.

Saving clubs provide economic safety nets against crises and shocks by serving as mechanisms for families to save and borrow in the absence of formal financial services. During COVID-19 and after the hurricanes, saving clubs provided an immediate safety net for many families.

Fish Forever’s overarching community-driven approach and concrete elements within it, like savings clubs, have strengthened bonds between community members and built social capital across fishing communities. Stronger social cohesion and greater social capital—through shared savings and joint participation in natural resource management— proved essential in times of crises and resulted in families and communities supporting each other with food and other essentials.

The University of Wollongong (UOW) Blue Economy projects recognized that building a community based approach requires an investment in relationships. This means that we expended considerable resources in building networks, fostering relationships and giving those relationships time to mature and evolve. This occurred internally, as we got to know the different disciplinary areas that different team members represented within the project. It also involved building collaborations with external partners over time. The most significant demonstration of this the growing role of Aboriginal partners in the research. Aboriginal partners and co-investigators had input into the early stages of the project and over time this relationship grew and evolved to the point that today our partners, the Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council, are co-leaders in the project and are co-developing future collaborations with UOW.

Before embarking on a journey to build a community based approach to a Blue Economy we felt it was important to first understand where we had come from and where we are now. We examined the historical role of maritime businesses on the NSW South Coast and the existing economic, social and cultural relationships of South Coast communities with the ocean. The result was a Blue Futures ‘Story map’ which details the diverse ways in which businesses, community groups and individuals engage with the ocean in our region.

When ‘taking stock’ of a region’s blue economy potential, the story map design ensured that no one social, environmental or economic angle was prioritized over another. Instead, space became the organizing principle, enabling users to scroll around the map to learn about what was important to the blue economy around them. In practice, this meant that employment statistics, historic coastal artworks and ocean governance examples appeared alongside clean ocean tech startups and established marine industries. The map brings these data into conversation with each other in the mind of the viewer, purely by their spatial proximity. This is an important first step in raising the profile of cultural and social data for developing blue economy solutions, which are often overlooked in favour of quantifiable statistics.