What Is Sustainable Ocean Planning, and Why Must Ocean Culture Be Integrated at Its Core?

Around the world, governments, philanthropies, and ocean institutions are rethinking their relationship with the sea. The emerging paradigm of Sustainable Ocean Planning is transforming how nations manage marine resources, build coastal resilience, and shape a thriving Sustainable Blue Economy.

But there is a missing piece that determines whether these efforts succeed or fail: Ocean Culture, the cultural, emotional, historical, and creative relationships people have with the sea.

Integrating culture into ocean agendas is not a “nice to have” or a next box to tick. It is an impact multiplier that unlocks social legitimacy, accelerates behavior change, and strengthens the long-term resilience of ocean policies.

Below, we outline why cultural investment is essential, who is leading globally, and how this moment is an opportunity to shift the future of ocean governance, especially with Brazil’s recent entry into the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.

What Is Sustainable Ocean Planning, and Why Does Culture Matter?

Sustainable Ocean Planning is a strategic, whole-of-government approach to planning and allocating ocean space and resources in ways that balance economic development, climate goals, biodiversity protection, and community needs. It is also a tool to support conflict resolution, sustainable planning and integration of land plans to what we envisage for the sea.

However, planning processes fail when communities feel unseen, when traditional knowledge is ignored, or when ocean decisions are disconnected from social identity. Ocean Literacy, or ultimately, Ocean Culture, including heritage, traditional practices, coastal identities, art, narratives, and collective memory, anchors planning in real human experience.

Governments that integrate culture into planning gain:

• stronger public support and reduced conflict;

• more informed coastal communities;

• increased stewardship and behavioral change;

• policy continuity beyond election cycles;

• deeper legitimacy for investments and innovations.
  

This is why culture must be considered not as a “soft” dimension, but as a critical pillar of governance.

Many countries including Norway, Portugal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, Seychelles, and the United Kingdom, have already demonstraded with time, that Maritime Spatial Planning works best when it recognizes cultural landscapes, traditional livelihoods, and the voices of coastal people. Culture is not separate from the ocean space. It shapes how people use, value, and protect it.

Effective Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) coordinates activities such as:

• conservation and biodiversity protection,

• offshore renewable energy,

• fisheries and aquaculture,

• tourism, shipping corridors, and infrastructure.

The Sustainable Blue Economy

A thriving Sustainable Blue Economy requires more than technology, regulation, or infrastructure. It requires cultural transformation, shifting how societies think about, value, and relate to the ocean.

Culture drives:

• social acceptance of renewable energy projects;

• community participation in conservation;

• responsible tourism models;

• youth engagement and future workforce development;

• innovation and creativity across sectors.

  
  

For funders, cultural initiatives offer high-leverage, low-carbon impact, often at relatively small cost compared to hard infrastructure projects. Culture is where economic and environmental agendas intersect with human behavior.

Why We Need a Creative Blue Economy?

Culture and creativity are powerful tools for ocean action. They inspire, empower communities and mark generations. A Creative Blue Economy also considers all aspects of creatives into the ocean. This including arts, design, architecture, storytelling, and local heritage management activities. Supporting a creative blue economy has many benefits, such as:

• expand ocean awareness across society;

• make complex science tangible;

• strengthen place-based identity and resilience;

• inspire cross-sector collaboration.

  
  

Creativity is a bridge between policy and people. For governments and philanthropies, it is an untapped opportunity to scale impact at speed.

Blue Careers and Ocean Literacy: Building the Future Workforce

A global ocean transition requires a new generation of professionals able to work across disciplines: biology, engineering, law, architecture, education, design, economics, and social innovation. This new set of skills can be worked trougth out ocean literacy.

Investing in:

• Ocean Literacy in schools,

• Blue skills programs,

• Transdisciplinary training,

• Youth engagement,

• Creative and cultural capacity-building,

  
  

builds long-term social and economic resilience.

Children who grow up ocean-literate become adults capable of sustaining blue economies, influencing policy, and innovating for the planet. This will support not only the future marine biologists to take action for ocean conservation, but inspire future lawyers, diplomats, artists, and any other career we can image to take action for the ocean.

Why Cities, Mayors, and Urban Designers Must Join the Ocean Agenda

Most ocean problems start on land. That is why cities are frontline actors in ocean governance. Urban planners, architects, designers, and coastal managers must shape solutions that:

• reduce land-based pollution,

• plan for sea-level rise and climate resilience,

• create nature-based coastal infrastructure,

• integrate cultural heritage into coastal development,

• foster ocean-oriented public spaces and creative districts.

  
  

Government and philanthropic funding that brings these actors into the ocean conversation produces stronger, more durable outcomes.

Blue Heritage: Culture as Infrastructure

Heritage, from indigenous navigation knowledge to artisanal fishing, music, rituals, architecture, and maritime tradition, are an aspect of social infrastructure. It sustains identity, cohesion, and local stewardship.

Blue Heritage initiatives help:

• anchor conservation in cultural meaning,

• protect intangible knowledge,

• empower coastal communities,

• reduce conflict in planning processes,

• diversify blue economies through cultural industries.

  
  

Brazil’s Entry into the High-Level Panel: A Global Turning Point

Brazil’s recent accession to the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy marks a transformative moment. As a megabiodiverse nation with vast coastline, rich traditional knowledge, and growing creative sectors, Brazil is uniquely positioned to:

• lead global cultural-ocean innovation,

• bridge science and heritage,

• demonstrate inclusive ocean governance models,

• scale blue economy initiatives with strong social foundations.

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Brazil offers fertile ground for pilot projects, cultural innovation labs, creative ocean hubs, youth programs, and cross-border collaborations.

Sustainable Ocean Planning cannot succeed through science and policy alone. It succeeds when people believe in it, feel part of it, and see themselves reflected in it.

Culture, heritage, creativity, identity, storytelling, education, is the operating system that makes all other ocean solutions work.

Would you like to understand how ocean culture could be integrated to your blue econonomy idea? Let's chat! contact@anavitoriatereza.com