Research capacities in integrated coastal management in Uruguay: disciplinary diversity, interaction among actors and contributions to management

Abstract

The information needed for management processes in the coastal space comes from different areas of knowledge and depends on the issues addressed in each phase of the integrated coastal management cycle. Scientific contributions can be derived from different disciplines since each stage of the cycle has its own specific knowledge and information needs. The development of research to contribute to problem solving implies a dialogue between actors with diverse knowledge. What are Uruguay's research capacities in integrated coastal management? How are the results obtained from research integrated into management processes? Which are the actors that are interacting in these processes? A search for research groups and researchers related to integrated coastal management in Uruguay was carried out. For the analysis of the results, the "General framework for analyzing the sustainability of social-ecological systems" (Ostrom, 2009) was used, focusing on the subsystem of users, using the proposal of interactions between actors for the development of science and technology in Latin America (Sábato and Botana, 1975). The research groups related to integrated coastal management are concentrated in the basic area, although they are also present in three other areas of knowledge -agricultural, social and technological-. Their cognitive diversity and concentration in the coastal territory increases from west to east. Likewise, the disciplines of the researchers are very varied, with 50% being: marine biology/ limnology, environmental sciences, ecology and oceanography/hydrology. Most of the researchers work in public institutions, mainly at the University of the Republic. Half of the responses obtained in the consultation with researchers indicated that the research results were taken into account in management areas. The scientific knowledge generated in the country is related to different types of contributions to each of the phases of the integrated coastal management cycle, although some topics are better represented than others.