Positioning blue justice at local scales: insights for transdisciplinarity through art-science integration

Since its introduction in 2018, the term blue justice has gained considerable traction. However, significant gaps and inconsistencies in the emerging literature remain. To address these issues, we have developed a collective framework that aims to contribute to and expand transdisciplinary blue justice research. As part of this framework, a transformative and participatory research design has been co-produced and applied in the Gulf of Arauco in the center-south of Chile. The results of our research suggest that the integration of scientific and artistic methods stimulates social-ecologically engaged transdisciplinary research centered on the identification of (1) root causes of social-ecological injustices that coastal communities face on a daily basis; (2) resistances in the face of these injustices, including forms of collective action and specific vocabulary that gives voice to marginalized coastal peoples; (3) opportunities that help to envision alternative coastal futures and pathways for blue justice, such as memory, emotions, local knowledge, and the strengthening of social-ecological identities. By transcending disciplinary boundaries, we envision blue justice as providing a suitable analytical lens through which to trial, apply, and evolve much-needed transdisciplinary research theory and praxis in coastal areas, emphasizing fairness, inclusivity, and the right of small-scale fishers to progressively exercise sovereignty over their territory through inclusive coastal governance.