Imagining sustainable futures for the high seas by combining the power of computation and narrative

Abstract

The high seas are experiencing a stark increase in industrial activities, with resources being exploited unsustainably and shared unequally. This suggests the need for a transformation, a shift in the deeper structures of the system such as underlying paradigms and mind-sets. We created future visions by combining computational text analysis with a structured, yet creative futuring approach. This process resulted in four science fiction stories, which aim to capture the complexity of the system, embrace the inherent uncertainty of the future and question current unsustainable trajectories, while emphasizing the vastness of future option space. The visions are analyzed using the concept of imaginaries, demonstrating that futuristic stories can be traced back to current realities and the scientific evidence they were based upon. We argue that engaging with alternative futures can open up transformative spaces to rethink the relationships between humans and the high seas, from which novel imaginaries can emerge.

Envisioning desirable futures in small-scale fisheries: a transdisciplinary arts-based co-creation process

“…However, the visioning method allowed diverse participants to transcend a creative paralysis based on the challenge of envisioning the future (Mazé 2019), while reconsidering contextual elements from their pasts and territories to craft meaningful future visions. Importantly, this specific arts-based method helped to move beyond technologically determined futures (e.g., Merrie et al 2018, Lübker et al 2023), a frequent bias in Western contexts (Cork et al 2023). Thus, collage is gaining traction as part of the future-thinking toolkit to stimulate creativity and flesh out meaningful, down-to-earth narratives in diverse contexts (e.g., Sellberg et al 2020), including when establishing transdisciplinary collaborations with Indigenous peoples and local communities (Falardeau et al 2019).…”

“…For instance, the collages and the meta-vision do not include explicit post-capitalism elements that hint at an organizational system fundamentally different, but instead, portray an enhanced version of the current one. To introduce innovative, disruptive, or radical elements, ocean futuring approaches have combined storyboards, science fiction prototyping, arts-based and structured futuring methods (e.g., Merrie et al 2018, Lübker et al 2023). However, we argue that using elements of the past to inform the future was instrumental for the vision to be meaningful and relatable to most participants, and to leverage existent local and ecological knowledge and values.…”