Working Group on Balancing Economic, Social and Ecological Objectives in Integrated Assessments (WGBESEO; outputs from 2022 meeting)

<p dir="ltr">Working Group on Balancing Economic, Social and Ecological Objectives in Integrated Assessments (WGBESEO) has two main objectives: (1) identifying objectives from legal and policy documents, and (2) understanding the implications derived from trade-offs among Economic, Social, Ecological and Institutional (ESEI) objectives. WGBESEO members are multidisciplinary professionals, including lawyers, political scientists, economists, and natural scientists, with diverse backgrounds ranging from early careers to experienced practitioners in various marine disciplines.</p><p dir="ltr">From 2020 to 2022, WGBESEO achieved several milestones, including developing a project plan, joining integrated ecosystem assessment (IEA) groups to enhance collaboration, updating management objectives for EOs, and engaging early career researchers through traineeships and a thesis.</p><p dir="ltr">A systematic review of peer-reviewed marine governance literature performed by WGBESEO found that little is documented on how objectives are derived from legislative mandates. A plurality of approaches was also observed: in addition to explicit management objectives found in official documents (the primary focus of the search), objectives are also derived from participatory processes like stakeholder workshops or consultations, often outside the public sphere. Most of the identified objectives relate to fisheries management, sustainability, or balancing multiple ESEI objectives. These findings were presented at ICES ASC 2021 and are being drafted into a journal manuscript.</p><p dir="ltr">A workshop hosted by WGBESEO at the MARE 2021 conference gathered insights on factors considered by authorities when deciding on conflicting ESEI objectives. The findings revealed that authorities often face an overwhelming amount of information and considerations. Additionally, there is not a single "authority" as authorities vary in institutional levels, contextual settings, and needs to respond to different requirements, making it impossible to refer to them as a homogeneous group. Using scenarios to observe consequences is useful, but the time scales for seeing these consequences—both intended and unintended—differ for ESEI objectives, and the time scale for recovery—if recovery is possible—also varies (e.g., the possibility of rebuilding a coral reef or a fishing-dependent community).</p><p dir="ltr">Discussions on attributes inherent to policy objectives are ongoing. Six dimensions are recognized, each set on a continuum: time, space, ambition, dimension, integration and force (obligation).</p><p dir="ltr">WGBESEO 2025 – 2027 work continues within the framework of its two main objectives.</p>