Bloom on Pyhäjärvi (Satakunta), 6th of September 2024 (CC0 1.0 Universal).
MARBLOOM analyses from a social scientific perspective the changing relationship between humans and the environment in connection to algal blooms, a growing global phenomenon that is altering marine and freshwater ecologies. It takes the especially representative study case of Finnish waters, where the size and seasonal patterns of blooms are changing, mostly due to shifts in water composition and temperatures connected to climate change. The project relies on a more-than-human approach and the notion of ‘ecology of practices’ to investigate the multispecies and multisectoral networks that form around blooms, including how they affect or are affected by processes related to global change. Situated in science & technology studies (STS), MARBLOOM turns up a notch the Actor-Network Theory notion of ‘follow the actors’ to work under the premise ‘follow the blooms’, putting blooms at the centre of its methodology.
MARBLOOM aims at understanding how algal blooms and the changing conditions around them contribute to the reconfiguration of human-environment relations in the context of the ecological crisis using Finland as an exemplary case by attending to their ecological, knowledge, everyday life, economic and policy dimensions in key sites located in the Finnish coast and lake district.
For this purpose, MARBLOOM uses a novel combination of participatory, sensory, and multimodal methods that mixes experimental and established techniques for data gathering to problematize human-centred narratives and common characterizations of blooms as harmful. This work will help develop theoretical and methodological toolkits to understand the broader impact the environmental crisis has on the reconfiguration of human-environment relations, offering key insights to address the challenges of cross-sectoral environmental issues.
You can get more information about MARBLOOM by contacting Jose A. Cañada.
