Empowerment and Blue Justice in Coastal Communities
Edited by Salina Spiering, Elisabeth Morris-Webb, and Sílvia Gómez
Deadline for Abstracts: 1-15 November 2025 | Deadline for Articles: 15-30 March 2026
The open access journal Ocean and Society from Cogitatio Press is welcoming article proposals for its upcoming issue “Empowerment and Blue Justice in Coastal Communities,” edited by Salina Spiering (Nordland Research Institute), Elisabeth Morris-Webb (Nordland Research Institute), and Sílvia Gómez (Autonomous University of Barcelona).
This thematic issue brings together inter- and transdisciplinary perspectives to examine how coastal communities worldwide are engaging with transition processes, sustainability transformations, and justice concerns. Through empirical studies and theoretical reflections, the issue explores how communities redefine their relationships with marine resources, negotiate power dynamics in environmental governance, and develop innovative socio-ecological and socio-technical tools for inclusive coastal futures.
Key themes include:
• Transition mechanisms and changed practices: Examining how co-creation processes transform marine governance, evidenced through case studies in just and inclusive coastal transitions.
- Co-creation and participatory governance: Analysing knowledge co-production and participatory methods for sustainable marine resource management.
- Blue Justice and local empowerment: Exploring conflicts in marine planning, displacement, and exclusion, including perspectives on planning in absentia.
• Alternative blue economies: Assessing how traditional coastal knowledge can be institutionalized to ensure equity, including the Leaving No One Behind (LNOB) principles.
- Living Labs and Nature-Based Solutions: Understanding how experimental approaches such as Transition Coastal Labs (TCLs) contribute to participatory conservation.
Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are encouraged to read the full call for papers here: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/oceanandsociety/issue/futureissues#i528