Fostering interdisciplinary approaches to marine science: insights from Ocean Sciences Institute (OCEAN, Aix-Marseille University)

Environmental challenges in the marine environment, such as pollution, habitat degradation, overexploitation, natural hazard and impacts of climate change, are intrinsically complex and involve interacting natural and human factors. Therefore, interdisciplinarity is necessary to address these challenges, as it allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the interactions between human societies and marine ecosystems. In this perspective, Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) provide crucial insights into how communities perceive, value, and impact ocean environments, thereby fostering more inclusive and effective conservation strategies. This communication explores the importance of this interdisciplinary approach and highlights various international initiatives, and those of Ocean Sciences Institute (OCEAN, Aix-Marseille University) as a telling example in bridging the gap between marine science and SSH.

                  In recent decades, Institutions and Universities worldwide have been increasingly committed to embedding interdisciplinarity in marine sciences, including students and researchers training to address global marine issues more holistically and effectively. Our experience at the OCEAN Institute indicated that such structure can sustain interdisciplinary research and education projects involved in studying socio-ecological systems. By examining both ecological dynamics and social dimensions, OCEAN aims to facilitates a deeper understanding of human-environment interactions and community engagement in conservation efforts. For instance, OCEAN has financed since 2021 various research programs that successfully integrated natural sciences and SSH. Such projects intersect, among others, marine pollution and history, social geography and chemistry, ecology and environmental psychology, or education program combining marine science and environmental law. Regarding educational challenges, we found that OCEAN’s interdisciplinary summer schools dealing with marine protected areas or plastic pollution may efficiently prepare future researchers and professional to navigate both natural and social sciences, enhancing problem-solving skills and promoting a transversal approach to marine conservation.

                  In this communication, we provide an overview and feedback on how university institutes can mobilize different disciplines, and a comparison of this experience with initiatives carried out on an international scale. We also discuss this experience by providing a critical dimension on the successes and obstacles encountered. We propose that the evaluation of the success of a project should focus on how interdisciplinarity has enabled to shed light on a research question by bridging knowledge gaps, and/or by adding an applied dimension to the research results, particularly when addressed to stakeholders (transdisciplinarity). Scientific interdisciplinarity also faces conceptual and methodological challenges when combining divergent paradigms and methods. Interdisciplinary work may struggle to fit within the traditional valuation system of scientific research. As a result, such an approach may be time-consuming and challenging to manage, leading marine scientists to consider SSH as subsidiary rather than a core dimension of research projects. Hence the importance of an institutional support such as the one provided by Aix-Marseille University through the Mission for Interdisciplinarity, which has developed an original tool for designing and carrying out an interdisciplinary research project. In this communication, we propose simple guidelines based on our real “learn by doing” experience to encourage institutions and scientists to adopt a reflexive approach to their practices, embracing collaboration, open communication, and flexible methodologies.