Lessons Learned and Social Futures: Building Social-Ecological Wellbeing in Coastal Communities

Stoddart, Mark C. J.; Mattoni, Alice; McLevey, John

Offshore oil and tourism are treated as separate development paths, though both are seen to provide economic and social benefits for host communities. However, the analysis of contact points across sectors shows that they are intertwined in a variety of ways. The co-existence of these sectors is often taken for granted in host communities, until new oil exploration or extraction infringes on established tourism economies. This provokes conflict between different ways of valuing non-human nature and integrating it into social-ecological relationships and political economies. Furthermore, climate change transforms the social-ecological context of the North Atlantic. This has significant implications for the oil-tourism interface because it raises issues about decoupling eco-tourism from fossil fuel resource extraction and highlights the need for decarbonization in both sectors.