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Co-constructing Cultural Ecosystem Services and Wellbeing Through a Place-Based Approach

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Social Wellbeing and the Values of Small-scale Fisheries

Part of the book series: MARE Publication Series ((MARE,volume 17))

Abstract

Reductive practices in fisheries management have tended to focus on ecological and economic dimensions that have rendered the social and cultural importance of fishing largely invisible, at least in the context of governance and policy making. This chapter builds on 5 years’ research in the English Channel and Southern North Sea in which the authors adopted a sense of place perspective as a framework for understanding the social and cultural value of small-scale fisheries. Through a number of case studies, the chapter describes how small-scale fisheries result in a series of ‘transformations’ as the marine environment is translated into cultural ecosystem services in coastal settings giving rise to socio-cultural value. This perspective is further developed by considering the value of the social wellbeing ‘lens’ to broaden the sense of place / cultural ecosystem services framework. In pursuing ‘values’ through sense of place, cultural ecosystem services and social wellbeing we discuss how the dualistic treatment of nature and society is problematic. We conclude that a relational co-constructionist approach, although challenging, offers a way of making visible an array of social and cultural values that emerge from the activity of small-scale fisheries.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Names have been anonymized throughout.

  2. 2.

    “Bob” is a slang term for a shilling, a former unit of currency in the UK, the equivalent of 5 pence in today’s money.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of INTERREG IVA Channel Programme CHARM III (Channel Integrated Approach for Marine Resource Management) and INTERREG IVA 2 Seas Programme GIFS (Geography of Inshore Fishing and Sustainability) for co-funding the work used to produce this book chapter. Additionally, this book contribution resulted from our paper presentations at the 2nd World Small-Scale Fisheries Congress in Merida, Mexico in 2014. We are grateful to the 2 Seas Programme for allowing us to part fund the trip from our project budget.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of History, Politics and Social Sciences, University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, London, SE10 9LS, UK

    Tim G. Acott

  2. Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, 14 Prince’s Gardens, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 1NA, UK

    Julie Urquhart

Authors
  1. Tim G. Acott
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  2. Julie Urquhart
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Correspondence to Tim G. Acott .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Derek S. Johnson

  2. Department of History, Politics and Social Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom

    Tim G. Acott

  3. Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

    Natasha Stacey

  4. Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

    Julie Urquhart

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Acott, T.G., Urquhart, J. (2018). Co-constructing Cultural Ecosystem Services and Wellbeing Through a Place-Based Approach. In: Johnson, D., Acott, T., Stacey, N., Urquhart, J. (eds) Social Wellbeing and the Values of Small-scale Fisheries. MARE Publication Series, vol 17. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60750-4_2

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