From Sustainable island futures to Transnational Intersectionality at Sea: For what does the Blue Economy stand for today? IDOS researchers give answers at the RethinkBlue conference.
From 23 to 24 April 2024, the first conference of the EU-funded COST Action network “RethinkBlue” took place in Zadar, Croatia. IDOS researchers Dr Irit Ittner and Ramona Haegele are part of the COST Action and presented their research.
The goal of the conference “Rethinking the Blue Economy: Socio-Ecological Impacts and Opportunities” was to create a forum for scholars who are seeking to rethink what the Blue Economy stands for today, from a socio-ecological perspective. Thereby, potential and existing contradictions, conflicts and synergies linked to the Blue Economy were explored along topics of maritime occupations, food security and sustainable blue consumption, port cities and coastal communities, fisheries governance, as well as climate change and natural hazards.
Irit Ittner presented her research results on „Sustainable island futures amidst an industrialising North Sea“ by looking at how the municipal administration and residents of Borkum, an island municipality in the German North Sea, navigate sustainability challenges, environmental protection and industrialisation.
Ramona Haegele presented her research, which is co-authored by Prof. Anna-Katharina Hornidge, on “Transnational Intersectionality at Sea: Gender, Ethnicity, Age and Marine Knowledge Production”, which investigates (sexual) harassment and discrimination during marine knowledge production processes and the effects on expert and non-scientific knowledge systems and beyond.