The “Blue economy” in tropical seascapes: livelihoods and transformation in a context of climate change

Coastal areas are subjected to multiple drivers of change.

Two critical ones are Climate change, which is projected to affect mainly in negative ways; and the new conceptualization of ocean use called "The Blue Economy".

A key knowledge gap is how the co-existence of these two strong drivers will affect livelihoods of coastal people highly dependent on marine resources.

The proposed network and associated research will address this gap in the context of the Western Indian Ocean in the states of Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique.The research is anchored in sustainability science, social-ecological systems approaches and theories of societal transformation.

The overarching question is: How are these coexisting drivers (climate change and the blue economy)  affecting coastal livelihoods and how may societal transformation look like considering the adaptive capacity of the people?

Further, how managers and policy makers conceived the policies and what new economic activities they had in mind for the local people? Are these suitable and match people´s capabilities?

The research will address these questions systematically for the first time in the three states, and will contribute to theoretical development understanding transformations in the coastal zones.

The research is important and will advance the SDGs particularly, 1 no poverty, 2 zero hunger, 5 gender equality, 13 climate action, 14 locean life and marine resources/life under water and 16 robust/fair institutions.