A transdisciplinary co‐conceptualisation of marine identity

1. Challenge 10 of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for SustainableDevelopment (2021–2030) calls for the restoration of society's relationship withthe ocean. Research suggests that the relationship people have with marine en-vironments can influence their depth of engagement in marine citizenship ac-tion, and the important role for ‘marine identity’ in driving that action. Althoughidentity is well-researched, marine identity is a concept novel to academia and abaseline understanding is required, both to grasp the scope of the concept, andto support research into its role in transforming the human-ocean relationship.2. Here, a transdisciplinary study, endorsed as a UN Ocean Decade Activity and bythe EU Mission Ocean & Waters, brought together a multinational communityof marine researchers and practitioners to co-produce a baseline conceptuali-sation of marine identity, drawing on photovoice and deliberative methodology.This paper presents the findings of the co-production process and offers a firstintroduction in the literature of the multiple variations and formations of marineidentity.3. We find marine identity to be a complex and multidimensional concept, suffusedwith individual experiences and understandings of the marine environment,based on social and cultural understandings of the ocean, contemporarily andhistorically. We present real-world examples of marine identity to illustrate keythemes that were developed through co-production.4. Policy implications: We propose marine identity as a catalyst for understandingexisting multifaceted and caring relationships with the ocean, as well as the res-toration of society's relationship with the ocean. Marine identity research should, therefore, be prioritised in research seeking to contribute to the UN OceanDecade Challenge 10, as this will support integration of non-material values ofthe ocean into marine planning processes and policy making, enabling effectiveresponses to Challenge 10's emphasis on integrating traditional/cultural ways ofknowing and valuing the marine environment, through diverse marine identities.We welcome research efforts that will further develop the marine identity con-cept and empirically investigate the relationships between marine identity, ma-rine citizenship, and people's relationships with the ocean.