ANCORS Ocean Nexus - Equitable Outcomes from Transboundary Ocean Governance
The ANCORS Ocean Nexus program is an interdisciplinary research program that addresses key challenges to achieving equitable outcomes in transboundary ocean conservation, governance and development. Our program is part funded by the Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Centre; a 10-year collaboration between The Nippon Foundation, a global leader in addressing the complex challenges facing our oceans, and EarthLab, a visionary institute at the University of Washington designed to unite the University and the wider community to develop innovative, just and equitable solutions to climate and other environmental challenges. Ocean Nexus research brings together expertise in social and natural sciences, from critical theory to policy analysis to equity and the environment, for a holistic study of changes to oceans and impacts on the communities that rely on them.
ANCORS is proud to be a member of this innovative and socially focused research program and grateful for the generous support from the Nippon Foundation. The ANCORS Ocean Nexus Program comprises an Ocean Nexus Chair, an Ocean Nexus post-doctoral research fellow, ANCORS Ocean Nexus PhD students, and a team of ANCORS research fellows.
The ANCORS Ocean Nexus research program sits at the interface between science, policy, law, and development studies. Our studies directly address key challenges to achieving equitable outcomes in transboundary ocean conservation, governance and development. Despite widespread international commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), developing State communities continue to derive only minimal benefits from oceanic resources. Commercial interests from developed States dominate industrial fisheries beyond coastal waters, often operating at unsustainable levels and protected by international conservation and management processes that largely prioritise historical interests. Transboundary ocean conservation, management and development frameworks struggle to adopt measures that promote SDGs, support equitable outcomes for developing States, and ensure that decisions do not apply a disproportionate conservation burden on to developing States. Our research program addresses these challenges by analysing potential solutions and their likely equity impacts, and fostering collective strategies and participation, science-based approaches and stewardship. Our scope is global, but with particular focus on the Indo-Pacific region.