The workshop aimed to co-create desirable futures for addressing long-term sustainability challenges affecting Nigeria’s coastal and marine ecosystems, particularly in relation to the interconnected dimensions of food security, climate change and biodiversity. It formed part of a broader transdisciplinary and participatory foresight process, bringing together diverse rights-holders, institutional regulators and knowledge-holders to explore alternative futures and collectively envision pathways towards more sustainable coastal and marine social–ecological systems.
In my role as a main facilitator and speaker, I contributed to guiding the participatory visioning process, introducing and applying the Nature Futures Framework, and supporting participants in articulating and discussing their perspectives on desirable futures for coastal and marine ecosystems. The workshop provided a space for exchanging knowledge, recognizing diverse values of nature and bringing different perspectives into conversations about the future of ecosystem sustainability.
Beyond its immediate objectives, the workshop contributed to the empirical application of the Nature Futures Framework to small-scale fisheries in West Africa. It also demonstrated the potential of participatory foresight to strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration, foster more inclusive environmental governance and create alternative narratives to prevailing projections of ecological decline.
This experience further strengthened my engagement with transdisciplinary research, participatory facilitation and futures thinking, while providing an opportunity to contribute to collaborative efforts aimed at advancing more inclusive and transformative approaches to coastal and marine sustainability in West Africa.
Click here to visualize the process.