20. Territorialising the High Sea: Socio-cultural mapping the interaction between humans and the Ocean
Chairs: Chiara Certomà (University of Turin, Italy)
Type: hybrid
As a sign of the pressing troubles, generated by anthropic activities we need to cope with in the Chthulucene, the irreversible consequences of marine environment degradation are already affecting the global life-supporting system. Contrasting initiatives mainly consist of monitoring and awareness-raising campaigns to prevent or reduce damaging, predatory and polluting activities. Most of them frame within a utilitarian conception of the economic and political importance of seas and oceans, including resource extraction, logistic and leisure activities performance. Nevertheless, marine degradation problem requires a paradigm shift to fill the knowledge gap and promote emotional attachment between humans and the ocean, especially with the High Sea. A large part of geographical literature referred to the territorialization of the High Sea as in terms of geopolitical control. Teritorialisation, however, can happen via a different approach by increasing ocean literacy and sea education to stimulate sustainable behaviours, a sense of belongingness and care. Stirred by the ocean social sciences perspective, such a socio-cultural territorialization of the sea and the High Sea can increase and improve the quality of the relationships between humans, non-humans and the ocean. Our session wishes to host multiform contributions reporting on (not exclusively):
• Critical analyses of marine science toward feeding the marine (or ocean) social science debate.
• Marine social mapping, citizen science, participatory governance and planning processes for improving human and the oceans relationships.
• Experiences of grassroot or informal political engagement toward ocean sustainability.
• Initiatives fostering the emotional attachment for public awareness, engagement, literacy and education (including imaginaries, narratives, blueprints and visions of the seas and oceans).
The session is kicked off by the tale of the territorialization process of the High Sea video documented by the independent video-maker Federico Fornaro, Managing Director of the international news agency Raw-News, who in 2013 crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a 6.50-meter boat during the Mini Transact regatta.
Keywords: marine territorialisation, socio-cultural mapping, participatory science and governance, High Sea
This activity has been officially endorsed by:
Parallel sessions
7th June, Room U6-29
S20 11:00-12:30 (hybrid)
Chair: Chiara Certomà (University of Turin, Italy)
Chiara Certomà, Territorialising the Open Sea. Insights from a socio-cultural geography perspective
Federico Fornaro, Territorialising the Open Sea. Insights from Oceanic Sailing
Pamela Buchan, Team Challenge 10: A transdisciplinary co-conceptualisation of marine/ocean identity
Gabriella Palermo, Trans-oceanic figurations: becoming-with the turbulent materiality in the High Sea
Nicolò Fenu and Paolo Giaccaria, Reterritorialize the seaside threshold and its geographical imagination