The coproduction of knowledge and policy in coastal governance: Integrating mussel fisheries and nature restoration

Uncertainties in the assessment of “significant effect” on the Dutch Natura 2000 Wadden Sea site – The mussel seed fishery and powerboat race controversies

“…This ruling resulted in a crisis for the mussel sector because the minister concluded this had consequences for the future permits for the mussel sector. After an intense media protest of mussel farmers against nature organisations and scientists, a covenant was made for a transition to sustainable mussel fishery between nature organisations, the mussel sector and the ministry LNV in October 2008 (Van der Molen et al, 2015).…”

“…An option is to broaden the debate on permits to include more elements than only the assessment of significant effects. For example for the mussel case, with the transition covenant the discussion was transformed in how and where the fishing could take place instead on what the exact effect would be (Van der Molen et al, 2015). This form of cooperation between initiators, nature organisations and the government can be effective to deal with activities with debated uncertainties, because it opens up more options on which actors can agree.…”

Connecting to the oceans: supporting ocean literacy and public engagement

“…Successful co-produced science initiatives demonstrate the value of such approaches, particularly in achieving equitable and sustainable project and policy outcomes. For example, in the case of a mussel fishery in the Dutch Wadden Sea, knowledge co-production between resource users, science and policy led to a shared knowledge-base and improved governance of the fishery, which helped to stabilise conflict and controversy associated with the fishery (van der Molen et al 2015 ). In Scotland, the Community of Arran Seabed Trust ( COAST ) initiative established a community-led ecosystem research programme that provided the impetus for further scientific monitoring, and eventually resulted in a collaborative community, science and policy effort to designate 30 marine protected areas in Scottish Waters (Stewart et al 2020 ).…”

Trade-offs and synergies in joint knowledge creation for coastal management: insights from ecology-oriented sand nourishment in the Netherlands

“…Several factors may play a role in establishing and maintaining the stakeholder interactions that enable balancing the legitimacy, credibility and salience of knowledge. These include the pressure or necessity to collaborate, willingness among involved parties, and trust (Röckmann et al, 2015;Van der Molen, Puente-Rodríguez, Swart, & Van der Windt, 2015). Our findings suggest that the capacity of involved actors to engage in interactive processes, in terms of time, resources and expertise, is also an important factor.…”