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The Norwegian Research Council has confirmed funding for COASTREC, an action research project led by the Telemark Research Institute, Norway. The aim of the project is to contribute to a better understanding of the role and potential of voluntary organisations in promoting shifts towards sustainable coastal recreation. The project will support Norway’s first comprehensive Action Plan for the Oslo Fjord and, through a Nordic comparison, shed light on challenges and possibilities of sustainability governance in the recreation domain.
COASTREC will respond to the need for knowledge on sustainability governance and will explore coastal recreation policy formulation and implementation in the interplay between state, civil society and market. The project will investigate the role and agency of voluntary organizations supporting, complementing or opposing state policies, with the backdrop of strong commercial interests, in bringing about system-wide sustainability shifts. This will be done by an in-depth case study of the Oslo Fjord, backed by literature reviews, document studies, and participatory filed work. The case study will supported by a comparative Nordic study.
Commencing 2023, the project will be implemented through close collaboration between networks of practitioners, voluntary organisations, policy makers and Nordic researchers, supported by an international network of experts. Professor. Chris Loynes from our Human Nature Relations research theme is to be one of the experts. He comments:
‘This is a fantastic opportunity to collaborate internationally and to learn from the case study in ways that will also be transferable to UK coastal communities and environments’
Photo credit: Fonwall
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