Navigating the Intersection of Social Justice and Ocean Conservation

By Myriam Ullah, Manager of Social Justice at Ocean Wise

Three years ago, I joined Ocean Wise as a Social Justice Manager, a new role for the organization. It was also my first experience working for an environmental organization after more than two decades in the non-profit sector focused on social justice education, advocacy, and peacebuilding work.

At the time, I anticipated needing to invest considerable energy to direct attention amongst staff for the human dimensions within an organization focused on addressing overfishing, plastic pollution, and climate change.

The intersections of social justice and ocean conservation are fraught with complexities. From human rights abuses within ocean industries, the lack of recognition of Indigenous land & water rights holders, the shifting landscape of fundraising for nonprofits, all the way to addressing accessibility issues for ocean tourism…these complexities accompany the steady flow of data illuminating the urgency of the climate crisis. Considering these dynamics, it is no wonder the most common question I received from family and friends when I first started working at Ocean Wise was, “Social justice in ocean conservation, isn’t that, like, so depressing?”

And rightly so! It is challenging to stay optimistic, especially long-term, within cause-based work in general. It might be tempting to narrow the scope of a project or skip a social impact assessment to simplify objectives. After all, it’s easy to get discouraged; from burn out and vicarious trauma to eco-anxiety, funding gaps, and the very real challenges associated with seeking systemic change—just to name a few.

Despite my initial expectations, the reality of my experience has been much, much more optimistic. My first assignment was to work within Ocean Wise’s youth programs, which engage hundreds of youth across Canada every year to deliver ocean action projects that benefit their local communities. My first tasks included developing strategic initiatives to ensure our programs were inclusive, accessible, and culturally relevant to the diverse cohorts of youth who participate (60 percent of whom self-identify as being from underrepresented groups) as well as supporting youth projects designed to contribute to a more inclusive environmental sector and/or broader reconciliation initiatives. I was (and still am) amazed by the capacity, interest, and willingness of the youth participants, and their staff coaches, to hold ocean health and social justice goals side by side. In fact, countless times in the past three years, youth participants have expanded my imagination of what is possible and what is at stake. It has solidified my resolve to embed the following two concepts across all of Ocean Wise:

#1: Investing in Reciprocal Collaborations

One of our organizational values at Ocean Wise is extreme collaboration. In this context “extreme” points to the need to prioritize collaboration across divide – to acknowledge that an exchange of contributions towards mutually beneficial goals amplifies efforts and deepens impact. Effective collaborations address the challenge of one team having to house all the expertise, experience, networks, and knowledge needed to succeed. A reciprocal approach, where all parties contribute to and benefit from the relationship, acknowledges what each side has to offer and to gain. This fosters trust, shared ownership, clear expectations, collective goal setting, and leads to more resilient solutions.

Many youth participants have questioned the transactional nature of traditional funding structures and criticized the tendency of organizations working toward a shared goal to act as competitors, rather than collaborators. These perspectives have been a refreshing push for equity-driven change and a reminder not to give up seeking win-win scenarios.

#2: Adopting an Intersectional Lens

Intersectionality, as coined by civil rights scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, is a framework to recognize how overlapping social identities are disadvantaged within a system. Applying this framework within the conservation sector exposes how simplifying an environmental issue by not addressing or acknowledging the social justice issues interwoven into it can isolate people working towards overlapping goals instead of uniting their efforts.

One of my favourite parts of my job are the one-on-one project consultations I get to do with youth participants who want to deepen the social impact of their ocean action projects. One recent event, organized by a youth in Ocean Wise’s Eco-Action Accelerator program, wove together art, climate action, and disability inclusion. “Art as Revolution” by Fianna Wilde invited attendees for an afternoon of creating and connecting in a community centered space. A top priority of the organizer was to address as many barriers to participation as possible; ensuring that cost, venue, location, language, food, and individual abilities were tended to. These measures are vital, not solely for the participants at this specific event, but because every time we allow for exclusionary or discriminatory procedures to continue unchecked, we reinforce a standard that does not work for everyone.

From my interactions with the incredible youth who collectively volunteer thousands of hours to better their communities, I have gained resolve to trust that humanity’s shared reliance on a healthy ocean highlights our interconnectedness to each other and our environment. From both a biological and social perspective, I know this to be true, resilience is found through diversity and resilient communities of youth will the most effective changemakers… now, and in the future.

This year’s theme for the United Nations World Day of Social Justice is “Empowering Inclusion: Bridging Gaps for Social Justice” which emphasizes the vital role of inclusion in addressing systemic inequities. Which is precisely what I see in our future as these young leaders continue to dissolve unnecessary constraints, proceed with moral clarity, and support each other’s visions for the complicated solutions we need most.