Social Sciences Applied to Marine and Coastal Resources
The communities that make up human society are not separate from the natural environment; indeed, our perceptions and actions towards the ecosystem affect it profoundly. Sociology, economics and culture help us understand the origin of these deep and inevitable connections between ecology and society, and to measure and modulate their impact.
The Social Sciences Applied to Marine and Coastal Resources group, also called MARSOCIAL, is the only IIM group focused on the social sciences. The group intertwines its studies in sociology, economics and social psychology with research on marine and coastal resources carried out in our Marine Ecology and Resources department. In this way, it broadens the ecosystem approach to a perspective that also includes the human dimension.
This new way of exploring the ecosystem makes it possible to define and assess marine ecosystems and subsequently analyze, from a social point of view, mechanisms that favor the conservation, protection and rehabilitation of such ecosystems, the protection of natural and cultural heritage, and the design of more realistic and reliable strategies for mitigating and adapting to the impacts derived from global change.
MARSOCIAL's work focuses on several key topics for the management of marine resources from a social perspective. On the one hand, it studies society's relationship with fisheries as socio-ecological systems, exploring their governance, the social participation systems they implement and other socioeconomic and cultural aspects of fishing, both commercial and recreational. With a broader focus, the group also studies the marine food value chain, with lines centered on traceability and the food market. Moving somewhat away from food resources, the group's research also explores the relationship between society and the environment through environmental economics, carrying out economic valuations of natural resources and considering, in a cross-cutting way, the impact of climate change. Finally, renewable energies, especially offshore wind energy, are also part of its field of study, investigating their social perception and impact on coastal communities.
Finally, in addition to developing its own research lines, the MARSOCIAL team is emerging as a transdisciplinary group that actively seeks collaboration with other research teams, both at IIM and at other marine and coastal research centers.
