Worldwide, coastal areas are facing several pressures associated to human actions, which seriously compromises the functioning of these systems and the variety of ecosystem services and other nature’s contributions to people they provide. To understand the different social-ecological contexts and to drive sustainability transformations in coastal habitats, interdisciplinary cross-sectoral approaches are required together with effective communication strategies. Here we present an initiative, started from the EuroMarine foresight workshop Pathgrass, aimed at developing and implementing social-ecological approaches in seagrass-dominated coastal systems. The Pathgrass workshop gathered a multidisciplinary research community of experts on seagrass, social-ecological systems, and social sciences to promote a collective reflection on human-seagrass connections/interactions. The Pathgrass initiative aims to i) identify (dis)connection points between human and seagrasses; ii) understand the causes of the (dis)connection; and iii) foster people-seagrasses connectedness. Further steps of this initiative will develop common conceptual frameworks and social-ecological sustainability models to be implemented in seagrass-dominated coastal systems.

Primary Presenter: Irene Olivé, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (irene.olive@szn.it)

Authors:

Irene Olivé, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn  (irene.olive@szn.it)

Maraja Riechers, Thünen Institut of Baltic Sea Fisheries  (maraja.riechers@thuenen.de)

Natali Lazzari, Universitat de Barcelona & National Center for Scientific Research, PSL Université Paris, CRIOBE, CNRS-EPHE-UPVD & Universidad de Santiago de Compostela  (lazzari.natali@gmail.com)

Antonio Castro, Universidad de Almeria  (acastro@ual.es)