From art to the sustainability of coasts and seas

Sustainability is a universal goal by which human development balances social, economic, and environmental dimensions, applicable to both terrestrial and marine environments. Several authors argue that arts are valuable tools to frame and engage with current environmental issues related to sustainability, including pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss. In this work, we ask - what is the role of art in the sustainability of coasts and seas? To address this question, we conducted a systematic literature review about how artistic practices contribute to sustainability in coastal and marine environments. We searched the two most important scientific databases of articles (Scopus and Web of Science) and retrieved 1352 articles. Several screening tasks were made to narrow the articles to 79 studies that address our research question. For each article, we identified and categorised the art form, target audience, geographical location, expected impact, and method to measure the impact. We found a variety of artworks from the four art categories (Literary, Media, Performing, and Visual) around the world, but more frequently in the US, UK, and Australia. In this review, we deal largely with the use of art in local issues, rather than at a global scale. Visual Art is the most frequent art category (~40%), comprising painting, carving, photography, comics, and architecture, amongst others. Nevertheless, there are mentions of 26 artworks from Performing Arts, 22 from Media Arts, and 16 from Literary Arts. We found that different artists address or are inspired by the same sustainability-related theme, for example, the ocean’s vulnerability is portrayed in a poem and in a theatre play. Only 19 articles measured the impact of artistic activities on their audience. Engagement is a highlighted pursued impact (~40%); however, other authors also intend to promote marine conservation and restoration, management, education, and activism. Art contributions to sustainability are recurrently made through raising awareness, learning, and promoting engagement and enjoyment of artistic project participants. With this systematic review, we set the current state of knowledge on an emerging topic and argue that further research and new strategies of impact measurement are needed to gain a deeper understanding of the role of art on coastal/marine sustainability.