José Barrena Ruiz ● Profesor Asistente

One of the most urgent socio-environmental crises facing humanity is the massive deterioration of earth's ecosystems. The scale of this process is so vast that there is talk that we are living through the sixth mass extinction of species, leaving no ecosystem worldwide unaffected. Although when thinking about these processes we tend to concentrate on land-based ecosystems, marine ecosystems are also experiencing massive degradation processes. Human-induced phenomena such as ocean warming, extensive pollution, acidification and deoxygenation, are causing ecological struggles everywhere. In parallel, the relentless extraction and ubiquitous pollution associated with industries such as fishing and aquaculture have also become a leading cause of marine environmental degradation. Given its extensive coastline and the massive scale of its fishing and aquaculture industries, Chile is very much at the center of such processes of anthropogenic marine degradation. Such decay does not only affect the nonhuman component of marine ecosystems – with some studies estimating that 2/3 of the country’s fisheries have been heavily affected – but also the human groups depending on them, especially hundreds of low-income fishing communities all over the country. The recognition of this degradation is not new, motivating since mid-1990s different kinds of public and private interventions to turn marine-based industries towards sustainability. So far, these interventions have been mostly ineffective, mainly because they have taken an incremental approach to the issue, not really challenging the roots of the systems of extractivism that allow ever-growing levels of environmental damage and injustice. The leading hypothesis of this research project is that a new kind of transition project is slowly emerging in the Chilean marine productive sector. Following the relevant literature on sustainability transitions in the fields of political ecology, science and technology studies (STS) and multispecies studies, this project will see these marine transition experiments (MTE) as aiming to enhance the sustainability of the marine productive sector through an experimental redefinition of the identities and relationships among some of its leading components. In particular, the project will focus on three components these experiments usually aim to redefine (with variable intensities): (1) its social component, towards a more nuanced understanding of the socioeconomic, political and cultural complexities involved in transition processes, (2) its epistemic component, towards a holistic approach to knowledge production and circulation, and (3) its nonhuman component, towards a commitment to respect and protect the involved nonhuman biological entities. In order to empirically explore the specific contours and challenges that such MTEs are facing in Chile this research project will engage with experiments focused on a particularly central component of marine ecologies: macroalgae. Although a key component of most marine ecosystems in the country, an ongoing boom on its extraction – that has turned Chile into one of its leading exporters worldwide – has caused massive damage to several key macroalgae ecosystems, and the multiple beings that depend on them. Reacting to this situation, in recent years a series of initiatives much closer to the MTE model have emerged on this area, projects that can be divided on two main types. First, there are MTE focused on domestication, referring to initiatives that aim at replacing the direct extraction of macroalgae from the seabed by its careful and continual cultivation and harvesting. Second, and reacting to the current model based on the export of macroalgae as raw material, there are MTE focused on potentiation, or initiatives aiming at locally processing macroalgae in order to potentiate one particular strain or process, turning it into elaborated products or components of technical processes. The general objective of this research project will be to explore using a transdisciplinary social science approach the emergence of MTEs centered in the macroalgae industry in Chile, putting a specific focus on the barriers and frictions they are currently facing and exploring novel ways to enhance their potential. In empirical terms, this exploration will be based on the development of case studies of ongoing domestication and potentiation MTEs. In each of these cases, multispecies ethnography will be mixed with action-research initiatives, so as not only to describe and analyze in a dense transdisciplinary way the issues and opportunities arising from these initiatives, but also to collaborate with multiple publics on sketching possible ways on which they could be strengthened. Selecting concrete case studies in different locations at a national level, the project will produce and disseminate highly innovative knowledge regarding the barriers and challenges faced by ongoing MTEs, with the final aim of contributing to the urgent need to move towards more sustainable productive engagements with marine ecosystems.

El proyecto examina las transformaciones del turismo basado en nieve y glaciares en un contexto de cambio climático acelerado. A partir de un enfoque comparativo entre periferias del norte y del sur global, la investigación analiza cómo el retroceso de criósferas está reconfigurando las oportunidades, prácticas y narrativas del turismo en territorios dependientes de estos recursos. El proyecto combina perspectivas de la geografía humana, los estudios del turismo y la sostenibilidad para co-explorar, junto a actores locales y académicos, nuevas trayectorias de desarrollo turístico frente a escenarios de incertidumbre ambiental. Metodológicamente, se basa en el intercambio internacional, la colaboración interdisciplinaria y la generación conjunta de conocimiento, con el objetivo de comprender las tensiones entre adaptación, conservación y desarrollo económico. Los resultados buscan aportar a debates teóricos sobre turismo en contextos de cambio global, así como a la formulación de estrategias más resilientes e inclusivas para territorios periféricos afectados por la pérdida de hielo y nieve.

El Centro IDEAL desarrolla investigación interdisciplinaria que integra ciencias naturales y sociales para generar conocimiento científico relevante para la conservación y gobernanza de los sistemas marinos australes. Sus líneas de trabajo (o dimensiones) se estructuran en torno a: Procesos físicos y cambio climático Analiza la variabilidad ambiental (temperatura, circulación oceánica, hielo marino) y sus efectos sobre los ecosistemas. Incluye fenómenos como el calentamiento global y la acidificación del océano. Ecosistemas, biodiversidad y funcionamiento ecológico Estudia la estructura y dinámica de los ecosistemas marinos, desde microorganismos hasta especies emblemáticas, abordando su resiliencia, productividad e interacciones tróficas. Microbiología y biogeoquímica Examina el rol de microorganismos en los ciclos de nutrientes y en el funcionamiento del océano austral, incluyendo su respuesta a cambios ambientales. Dimensión humana, usos y gobernanza Aborda la relación entre sociedad y ecosistemas marinos, incluyendo pesca, acuicultura, turismo y conservación, así como los marcos institucionales y de política pública en contextos subantárticos y antárticos. Integración y modelación de sistemas socio-ecológicos Desarrolla enfoques integrados para comprender los sistemas acoplados humano-naturaleza, apoyando la toma de decisiones mediante modelos y escenarios.