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Study Centre · ONS

The Ocean, Nature and Society

Interactions between the ocean, nature, climate and societies: conservation, coastal use and environmental justice, based on social sciences applied to the maritime sector.

A diver above a reef in the Gray’s Reef Marine Sanctuary

National Marine Sanctuaries / Wikimedia Commons (image source, new tab) — Domaine public

Introduction

By exploring the interactions between the ocean, nature, climate and societies, the centre ONS views the ocean as a testing ground and examines ways of reconciling exploitation and protection within a framework of sustainable development. Rather than assessing solely the technical effectiveness of conservation or integrated management tools, its members analyse their social construction, in order to understand the politicisation of the marine environment as a structuring phenomenon.

Mission

The Study Centre places issues of environmental justice at the heart of its approach. It examines inequalities in access to fishery resources, the homogenisation of social uses of coastal areas, and the marginalisation of local communities in the face of exploitative practices.

Areas of focus

ONS — 6 axes

  1. The seabed of Port-Cros National Park

    Margaux Faurie / Wikimedia Commons (image source, new tab) — CC BY-SA 4.0 (licence, new tab)

    Area 01

    The social production of conservation measures

  2. A fleet of fishing canoes in Saint-Louis, Senegal

    Nsoderblom / Wikimedia Commons (image source, new tab) — CC BY-SA 4.0 (licence, new tab)

    Area 02

    Disparities between industrial and small-scale fishing

  3. Aerial view of La Grande-Motte: marina, beaches and lagoons

    Olivier Cleynen / Wikimedia Commons (image source, new tab) — CC BY 4.0 (licence, new tab)

    Area 03

    Competing uses of the coastline and coastal waters

  4. A fisherman mending a net on a beach on the Tanzanian coast

    Godsplan jr / Wikimedia Commons (image source, new tab) — CC BY-SA 4.0 (licence, new tab)

    Area 04

    Ethnography of maritime spaces

  5. Mussels on bouchot beds at low tide near Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer

    Olivier Dugornay (IFREMER, Pôle Images, Centre Bretagne - ZI de la Pointe du Diable - CS 10070 - 29280 Plouzané, France) / Wikimedia Commons (image source, new tab) — CC BY 4.0 (licence, new tab)

    Area 05

    The Sociology of Conflicts over Land Use

  6. Eroded dunes and stone fences at Île-Tudy, in Brittany

    Moreau.henri / Wikimedia Commons (image source, new tab) — CC BY-SA 4.0 (licence, new tab)

    Area 06

    Political Geography of the Coastline

Publications

View all the centre’s publications

8 of 12 publications shown

Join the centre

  • Chair · ONS

    Volunteer

    Scientific Coordinator — Centre ONS

    To manage the ONS (Ocean, Nature and Societies) Study Centre: to plan its work, coordinate its contributors and monitor its publications, in collaboration with the Chair’s management.

    Availability
    4 to 6 hours a week

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