The Introduction of this paper argues that current coastal and ocean management approaches like marine spatial planning (MSP) often do not adequately acknowledge and integrate Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK). This is problematic because how humans value and perceive coastal and marine resources is integrally linked to how they use and manage these resources, especially in adapting to social-ecological change. Coastal and marine resources are situated within complex social-ecological systems that are culturally, economically, historically and politically embedded. Therefore, management approaches have to integrate transdisciplinary and contextual perspectives in order to be relevant, sustainable and adaptive. Following extensive research in Algoa Bay, South Africa this article highlights several pathways to bridge the gap between existing ILK and current coastal and ocean management approaches. The Methods section discusses how the authors worked in tandem with a bottom-up (engaging with Indigenous and local coastal and marine resource users) and top-down (engaging with coastal governance authorities and practitioners) approach. In order to answer the primary research question “How can ILK be integrated into area-based ocean management like MSP”? the authors employed arts-based participatory methods as well as in-depth interviews and workshops with coastal governance authorities and practitioners over several months. This work then culminated in a one-day multi-stakeholder workshop which brought both ILK holders and coastal authorities and practitioners together to collaboratively identify pathways to integrate this knowledge into coastal and ocean management. In the Results and Discussion section the authors present and discuss five co-identified pathways to integrate ILK in coastal and ocean management which include: adopting contextual approaches to coastal and ocean management; increasing transparency and two-way communication between coastal authorities and users; increasing access to relevant and useable information; reviewing and amending relevant MSP legislation towards a stronger connection between MSP and Indigenous knowledge legislation; as well as amending legislation pertaining to access to coastal and marine areas. In the Conclusion it is argued that ILK coastal communities want to be meaningfully included in how their coastline and ocean resources are managed and also seek increased access to coastal areas. By highlighting pathways to include ILK and the knowledge holders themselves, this paper seeks to contribute to improved protection and sustainable management of marine resource use.

Coastal governance plays a central role in building the capacities for adaptation and transformation towards climate resilience in coastal social-ecological systems (SES). However, enhancing climate resilience requires effective coordination between organisations involved in coastal governance. Therefore, more information about the role and agency of organisations and the relationships between them is needed. This paper aims to improve the understanding of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and stakeholder agency for enhancing climate resilience in coastal SES, using a case study in Algoa Bay, South Africa. We apply and combine stakeholder analysis and social network analysis, which is currently underrepresented in climate change adaptation research. Results suggest that different top-down and bottom-up processes are needed to improve knowledge exchange and enhance climate resilience in the coastal governance of the Algoa Bay SES. These include improved leadership, effective knowledge transfer, integration of climate information, support for bridging organisations, and inclusivity of marginalised stakeholders. These suggestions may also be more broadly applicable and transferable to similar coastal SES. Ultimately, the results of this study shed light on network structures in coastal governance facing climate change and advance research on combining stakeholder analysis and social network analysis in climate change adaptation and environmental governance research.

Knowledge co-production has become part of an evolution of participatory and transdisciplinary research approaches that are increasingly important for achieving sustainability. To effectively involve the most appropriate stakeholders there is a need for engagement and increasing prominence of stakeholders in environmental management and governance processes. The paper aims at developing and testing a methodology for stratifying stakeholders by (i) classifying organisations involved in coastal and ocean governance by their agency, and (ii) grouping them into organisational archetypes for representation and selection in research processes. Agency was measured by the three dimensions of scale, resources, and power. Each dimension was further elaborated as a set of indicators. The methodology is applied in the context of a research project set in Algoa Bay, South Africa. The stratification of organisations enabled the research team to gain a better understanding of the stakeholder landscape of organisational agency, and thus identify the most relevant stakeholder with which to engage. The use of a hierarchical cluster analysis identified five organisational archetypes in relation to ocean and coastal governance in Algoa Bay. The methodology used in this study proposes an informed and intentional approach to create the conditions under which the co-production of and participation in research processes can take place.