Projects per year
Organisation profile
Organisation profile
Identity
The Centre for Blue Governance is a multidisciplinary social science research group focused on the interactions between people and the sea. Accordingly, we define blue governance as the formal and informal processes of collective decision-making, planning, deliberating, and capacity building by governmental, market, and civil society actors connected to marine and coastal environments. Through addressing issues of legitimacy, democracy, and sustainability in governance, we seek to improve understanding of the strategies used by people in response to social, economic, environmental, and political change. The Centre for Blue Governance is located at Aalborg University, Denmark, within the Department of Planning.
The legacy of IFM
The Centre for Blue Governance builds on the values and outstanding reputation of Innovative Fisheries Management (IFM) for social scientific expertise, analysis, and advice in international fisheries and marine governance. Founded in 1994, IFM began as an independent social scientific research and advisory institute working in fisheries management and coastal community development. In 2007, IFM merged with Aalborg University (AAU), becoming a research centre within the Department of Planning, with an expanded research focus beyond fisheries management to include other maritime sectors and issues of marine governance. This expansion has led to a new articulation of the group as the Centre for Blue Governance in 2019. The Centre for Blue Governance encompasses and promotes the social science and policy expertise and interests developed and held by IFM.
Vision
Political and environmental changes affect and alter the relationships between people and the sea. The Centre for Blue Governance seeks to understand interconnected cultures and relationships to marine environments, space, and resources, and how political and environmental changes and their respective impacts manifest. The Centre analyses how coastal communities, governments, international organisations, and industry adapt to, seek to alter, and govern these changes. Through our research, we aim to advance social sciences in the field of blue governance and develop innovative approaches, both theoretical and applied, that align with the principles of sustainability, democracy, and legitimacy.
Mission
We envision that blue governance should contribute to aims of sustainability, democracy, and legitimacy. To achieve this, the Centre for Blue Governance strives to:
- Foster a network of scholars actively and effectively engaged in research on blue governance;
- Advance the Centre’s reputation and legacy of IFM as a leader in marine social science, building upon fisheries and community-focussed research themes;
- Develop methodologies and theories that bridge disciplines and institutions to contribute to our aims of legitimate, democratic, and sustainable modes of blue governance;
- Effectively engage with society to ensure the relevance, use, and uptake of research to implement approaches and methodologies.
Fingerprint
Collaborations from the last five years
Profiles
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Integrated ecological, genomic and oceanographic analysis for planning marine habitat protection
Nielsen, H. N. (PI), Larsen, S. V. (Project Participant) & Eliasen, S. Q. (Project Participant)
01/11/2024 → 31/10/2027
Project: Research
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COST Action CA23103: Life, liberty and health: ensuring universal protection of human rights at sea (BlueRights)
Coelho, N. F. (Project Participant)
31/10/2024 → 30/10/2028
Project: Research
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EKoDA: Environmental Knowledge in the Digital Anthropocene: exploring new spaces of cross-disciplinary collaboration
Andersen, A. O. (PI), Laursen, A. T. (PI), Jacobsen, R. B. (CoI), Horvath, A.-S. (CoI) & Arler, F. (PI)
01/07/2024 → 31/08/2025
Project: Research
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A multi-dimensional approach to improve validation practices for qualitative models of marine social-ecological systems
Oliveira, B., V. Álvaro, N., Asif, F., Z. Botelho, A., Canning-Clode, J., Casimiro, D., Cecilia-Ruano, C., Chambers, C., C. Costa, A., Dinis, A., P. García, J., Haroun, R., Laksá, U., M. Martins, G., H. McGrath, A., Mintrone, C., Carlsdóttir Olsen, M., I. Parente, M., Parretti, P. & Pouso, S. & 7 others, , 2025, In: Current Research in Environmental Sustainability. 9, 100273.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile16 Downloads (Pure) -
Aquaculture Governance Indicators: A diagnostic framework for steering towards sustainability
Toonen, H. M., Bush, S. R., Ibarra, R., O’Sullivan, C., Hudson, E., Asif, F., Bridson, P., Corsin, F., Fitzsimmons, K., Kruk, S. R. L., Madeira, J., Little, D. C., Norden, W., Stark, M. & Tucker, L., Apr 2025, In: PLOS Sustainability and Transformation. 4, 4, e0000165.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Benchmarking Biodiversity Integration in Environmental Assessments
Kørnøv, L., Larsen, S. V., Eliasen, S. Q., Ravn Boess, E., Geneletti, D., Borges Laporta, L., Soares, A., Monteiro, M. B., Rosario Partidario, M. & Zhu, Y., 2025, (Submitted) In: Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Datasets
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[Supplementary Information] Model uncertainty versus variability in the life cycle assessment of commercial fisheries
Giovanni, C. (Creator), Massimo, P. (Creator), Jacob, H. T. (Creator) & Madsen, N. (Creator), Zenodo, 2023
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8340321, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8340321
Dataset
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The Way Forward on Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Planning in the EU
Kirkfeldt, T. S. (Creator), van Tatenhove, J. P. M. (Creator) & Calado, H. M. G. P. (Creator), Taylor & Francis, 6 Dec 2021
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.17129937.v1, https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/The_Way_Forward_on_Ecosystem-Based_Marine_Spatial_Planning_in_the_EU/17129937/1
Dataset: Supplementary material
Prizes
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Best Paper Award (Category: Smart and Autonomous Shipping)
Krause, S. (Recipient), Wurzler, L. (Recipient), Mørkrid, O. E. (Recipient), Fjørtoft, K. E. (Recipient), Psaraftis, H. N. (Recipient), Reche Vilanova, M. (Recipient), Zis, T. (Recipient), Coelho, N. F. (Recipient), van Tatenhove, J. (Recipient), Raakjær, J. (Recipient), Kloch, K. (Recipient), Billesø, M. B. (Recipient) & Kristiansen, J. N. (Recipient), 6 Apr 2022
Prize: Conference prizes
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Activities
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INTEGRATED ECOLOGICAL, GENOMIC AND OCEANOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS FOR PLANNING MARINE HABITAT PROTECTION
Nielsen, H. N. (Lecturer) & Eliasen, S. Q. (Lecturer)
12 Mar 2025Activity: Talks and presentations › Talks and presentations in private or public companies
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Blue Economy in the Arctic - Legacies, changes and coastal community survival. WAGE Roundtable Series.
Jacobsen, R. B. (Participant)
6 Mar 2025Activity: Attending an event › Organisation or participation in workshops, courses, seminars, exhibitions or similar
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Workshop om Den Levende Fiskerihavn og Danmarks nye internationale maritime forskningscenter, Njordcentret
Hegland, T. J. (Participant)
27 Feb 2025 → 28 Feb 2025Activity: Attending an event › Organisation or participation in workshops, courses, seminars, exhibitions or similar
Press/Media
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Opsamling på temadebat: Sådan mener aktørene, fremtidens fiskeri skal se ud
02/05/2025
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
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NordsøPosten nævnes som et ud af kun tre reelt tilstedeværende medier på Naturmødet i Hirtshals
10/04/2025
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media