Underwater Museums and the Blue Economy
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| Infographic: What is the Blue Economy? The World Bank |
Underwater museums are underwater preserves of submerged sculptures, ships and artifacts located in a “natural” aquatic environment that can be accessed via glass-bottomed boats, diving or views through an “unstressed container”.
Making the Oceans a Sustainable Resource
From an economics standpoint, Underwater museums and their progressions can be included as a part of what is known as the “Blue Economy”. These museums contribute to Ocean sustainability, Marine conservation, and local economies by promoting marine ecotourism, environmental awareness, and the preservation of submerged historical sites.
What exactly is “Blue Economy”?
Here is a closer look...
The Potential of the Blue Economy
(World Bank and United Nations, 2017)
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/26843/115545.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Blue Economy Concept Paper
(UNCSD, 2012)
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/2978BEconcept.pdf
Blue Economy Risk Factors
Not everyone shares the same definition of what a Blue economy actually is. Is it a means by which economies can responsibly flourish, or is it actually the unregulated exploitation of marine resources, blatant profiteering, and ocean “grabbing” under the guise of sustainable economic improvement? This is what is being said:
The Illusion of “Blue Growth”
(Zoe BRENT, Mars BARBESGAARD, and Carsten PEDERSEN, TNI; 28 November 2018)
https://www.tni.org/en/article/the-illusion-of-blue-growth
Selected Research Articles:
Blue Growth and Blue Justice
(BENNETT et al., 2020)
Towards a sustainable and equitable blue economy
(BENNETT et al., 2019)
Blue degrowth and the politics of the sea: rethinking the blue economy*
(ERTÖR and HADJIMICHAEL, 2019)
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-019-00772-y
Problematic blue growth: the thematic synthesis of social sustainability problems related to growth in the marine and coastal tourism*
(LEPOSA, 2020)
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11625-020-00796-9.pdf
Performing ‘blue degrowth’: critiquing seabed mining in Papua New Guinea through creative practice*
(CHILDS, 2019)
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-019-00752-2
(*): Retrieved from Springer Journal “Sustainability Science” [ISSN: 1862-4065 (Print) 1862-4057 (Online)]
Making sure the blue economy is green
(GOLDEN et al., 2017)
http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/298696.pdf
How you choose to view the “Blue Economy” is your choice...
By Staff, thesameconnection.com