Journeys of change towards the blue economy: evaluating process in transformational change

Abstract Transformation is idealised as a solution to multiple ocean crises, and the blue economy has emerged as a paradigm to facilitate transformation towards a sustainable ocean future. Conceptualisations of transformation differ and processes of change to achieve transformation remain under-explored in literature, representing a significant gap in understanding how transformation is achieved. By exploring the process of blue economy governance transformations in Seychelles and Bangladesh, key attributes of transformation as a process are identified and contextualised. Connectivity of events and actions that addressed a range of different depths and parts of the governance system were identified as enablers of progress towards the blue economy. Strong, centralised leadership was identified as important at an early stage of change, but this must evolve to a distributed form of leadership to continue direction and flexibility. The role and importance of external agencies in creating and catalysing change is complex, presenting challenges to sovereignty but also acts as an independent driver of movement. From a national government perspective, the need to be ‘constantly seen as doing something’ hinders deeper changes and interventions, and instead promotes more superficial outcomes. These results demonstrate the challenges in creating transformative change, and suggest a need to explore evolutionary processes of change over time.