Sea the Connection

Why are we running this project?

During our Oceans of Value project (which wrapped up in 2024) we interviewed 26 people in Orkney to capture how people value the marine environment. When asking about involvement in policy, a lack of confidence in participating was evident. The majority of interviewees said they wouldn’t feel they had enough knowledge to be involved in the development of marine planning in their area, despite the wealth of views and knowledge displayed during interviews.

Following on from the work in Orkney we conducted workshops across Scotland and recorded feedback from communities on what the key issues facing the marine environment are, how they want to see Scotland’s seas protected in future and what the barriers were to getting involved in policy. Again a lack of confidence in participating in decision making was expressed along with feeling that they were not the target audience for consultations. Communities also told us that they wanted to see more education on marine issues, in schools and for adults as well.

We are facing what some have termed a “policy trilemma”: the need to balance sustainable fisheries, biodiversity restoration and achieving net zero by 2045 in our ever-busier seas in a way that benefits people, nature and economy. It is vitally important that, as policies around marine planning and protection progress, local communities are involved in decision making.

This project marks a natural progression from Oceans of Value by taking forward the views and recommendations from communities to help shape an Ocean Literacy programme and address some of the issues identified. Sea the Connection commenced in October 2024, kindly funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.