A virtual dialogue as part of 2021 Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development (NISD) seminar series exploring integrated systems in achieving sustainable food future goals.

Date: Wednesday-Thursday, 13-14 October 2021

Time: 22:30-00:00 (UTC+8)

Land and land-based activities and societies have played the dominant role in shaping thinking in International Development but the development trajectories of nations and regions have been heavily influenced by the maritime and aquatic realm. Rivers, lakes, seas and oceans have shaped human settlement patterns, trading relationships, cultural interchanges and the formation and demise of colonies and empires.  

Human societies were once – and are perhaps once again becoming – coastal.

Yet, oceans, in particular, have been treated as unpeopled spaces of little interest to those studying patterns of economic and social development.  However, in recent decades, the ‘blue economy’ has emerged as a focus for nations' ways to find new energy and material sources for growth, to decarbonize their economies, and to find ways to live in and with non-human nature in new ways.

In this virtual seminar, WorldFish’s Director of Science and Research in Aquatic Food Systems Eddie Allison shared knowledge on aquatic food systems, the emergent blue economy and their benefits to equitable and sustainable development. He drew insights from his policy report to the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, entitled “The Human Relationship With Our Ocean Planet.”

Follow WorldFish and the hashtag #aquaticfoods to check out past conversations on Twitter.