Transformation across land-sea governance: future research opportunities

Transformation is heralded as a solution to the diverse and interconnected crises threatening natural environments and the livelihoods of those who depend on them. Coastal governance does not exist in a vacuum, and integrated land-sea governance systems are a potential solution to the triple planetary threat of climate change, increasing pollution and biodiversity loss. A systematic literature review was undertaken to identify whether transformation is understood in a consistent manner across land-sea governance systems and to identify the status of knowledge regarding transformation across these scales to identify future research priorities. The results suggest that transformation is an emerging concept in freshwater governance compared to the well-established discussions of saltwater governance transformations. Of the 135 articles identified, 26 explicitly identified transformation, with only one article not positioning transformation as a radical social change, suggesting that a shared definition is emerging across the land-sea interface. A total of 62 case studies of transformation were identified across saltwater and freshwater environments, with articles detailing case study analyses of tools and approaches for transformation numbering 34, suggesting that place-based knowledge and analyses of transformation are well established in the literature, but that the tools or approaches to change are fragmented. These findings suggest a growing but uncoordinated body of work, which emphasises the need for future research into shared definitions, the role of transitional waters such as estuaries, and the governance landscapes that create transformation.