| Current ocean management approaches are often characterised by economic or environmental objectives, paying limited consideration to social and cultural dimensions, as well as Indigenous and local knowledge. Piloting arts-based participatory research methods to co-produce knowledge with Indigenous and local knowledge holders in Algoa Bay, South Africa, the research finds that the use of photography and storytelling can support the coming together of different ways of knowing the ocean and coast, necessary to produce contextually-oriented approaches to more inclusive area-based ocean management. The use of arts-based methods can also be useful in highlighting cultural connections to the ocean, and remembering and imagining, or reimagining, ways in which people relate to and care for the ocean and coast. For example, using photography and in situ storytelling often allows people to convey memories and histories of more accessible coastlines, or envisaging a future with more inclusive and participatory ocean management. Emphasising these cultural connections, and better recognising them in ocean management has the potential to include people’s awareness of the ocean which could translate into an increased sense of care and stewardship towards the ocean and coast as people feel more connected to their contextual seascapes. This could in turn contribute to a more sustainable sociocultural approach to ocean management which is necessary for equitable and sustainable future ocean social-ecological wellbeing. |
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