Germond-Duret, Celine and Khandy, Idreas (2024) SeaSights project : Deprived seaside towns and the blue economy – what is blue justice for the younger and older generations. In: 35th International Geographical Congress 2024, 2024-08-25 - 2024-08-30, Dublin City University. (Unpublished)
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
The blue economy concept has highlighted the possibility of combining ocean recovery and local prosperity. However, its social dimension has often been neglected. A key question is how to efficiently take into consideration the needs and aspirations of coastal communities into decision-making and ensure fair policies. This is all the more important for the younger generation, that have often been left out of decisions that directly affect their lives. This communication will provide insights on the British Academy -funded project “SeaSights”, which aims at giving younger people a voice and visibility into coastal and marine decision making. This project combines and compares traditional and innovative methods (photovoice) to support young people to play an active role in shaping their environments and allowing them to drive local development ambitions. The project focuses on the North West of England, a region that suffers from high levels of social and economic deprivation. The special challenges encountered by coastal towns have been acknowledged in recent years, and young people are particularly affected. Whereas the need to address the specific challenges facing coastal communities has been recognised, policymakers need to make decisions based on scientific assessments of the question. This project responds to this need by putting the emphasis on the importance of investigating young people’s perceptions of the coastal and marine environment, assessed against the needs and aspirations of the older generation; it uses the findings to inform and influence future policymaking towards inter-generational blue justice.