Belmont Forum Collaborative Research: Assessment Framework for Successful Development of Viable Ocean Multi-use Systems (Multi-Frame)

University Of Rhode Island, Kingston RI

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides support to U.S. researchers participating in a project competitively selected by a 55-country initiative on global change research through the Belmont Forum. The Belmont Forum is a consortium of research funding organizations focused on support for transdisciplinary approaches to global environmental change challenges and opportunities. It aims to accelerate delivery of the international research most urgently needed to remove critical barriers to sustainability by aligning and mobilizing international resources. Each partner country provides funding for their researchers within a consortium to alleviate the need for funds to cross international borders. This approach facilitates effective leveraging of national resources to support excellent research on topics of global relevance best tackled through a multinational approach, recognizing that global challenges need global solutions. Working together in this Collaborative Research Action, the partner agencies have provided support to foster global transdisciplinary research teams to address critical issues in ocean sustainability including, conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. This complex challenge required that the projects utilized integrated, transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches and bring together natural and social sciences as well as policymakers, resource managers, industries, citizens and other societal partners. This award provides support for the U.S. researchers to cooperate in consortia that consist of partners from at least three of the participating countries to increase our knowledge of the complex linkages and pathways needed to accelerate sustainable use of oceans and minimize the effects from global change. MULTI-FRAME will focus on evaluating pathways toward a sustainable and equitable use of oceans by assessing the potential impact of ocean multi-use in real world challenges. The multi-use concept refers to intentional joint use of ocean space and resources by two or more users in close geographic proximity. It represents inclusive sharing of resources by one or more users which can contribute to a more sustainable use of ocean resources by reducing spatial pressures, creating new opportunities for socio-economic developments and providing environmental benefits. The project brings together a transdisciplinary, international research consortium with expertise ocean planning, ecology, stakeholder engagement, value chain and sustainability analysis, conservation and decision analysis. The team of academics, non-governmental and private sector researchers will work together to provide a critical analysis of ocean multi-use, in 5 different geographic locations, to identify potential pathways to promote simultaneous use of ocean areas by services that may have conflicting interests. MULTI-FRAME will benefit a broad range of local and national-level stakeholders, including local communities, government, marine planning agencies, and local and national decision-makers by increasing the knowledge base of sustainable ocean multi-use practices to help improve and foster the blue (ocean) economy while preserving ocean space and resources. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.