Website: http://www.havforsuring.no/

Ocean acidification (OA) in concert with climate change and other anthropogenic stressors will lead to unprecedented and profound changes in coastal ecosystems. There is little knowledge of the processes of OA
in Norwegian coastal areas, about the potential consequences, to what extent OA will interact with other ecosystem stressors, and how society may respond to this situation.

Sustainable management of the coastal areas therefore hinge on the ability to address and mitigate OA and OA impacts.
In order to make OA a governable issue, this project will produce more knowledge about OA in the coastal zone, and gain new insight into how this knowledge can be co-produced with those who uses it for governance and industry purposes. OA and climate change add uncertainties on several levels for coastal zone management, which raises the need for better knowledge on how governance regimes can operate in an effective way given such uncertainties. Through two case studies and measurements
in coastal areas in southern and northern Norway, the proposed project
will provide new knowledge about OA and OA impacts on coastal areas
and develop models for how this knowledge can be used for coastal management.

A sustainable economic development in Norway depends
on well-functioning coastal zone management that are able to effectively respond to OA and other drivers of change. This project will contribute new and relevant knowledge to ensure such management. The project will also assess the ability of coastal management institutions to adapt to OA in a situation involving complex uncertainties.

The studies in Norway will be complemented by a knowledge exchange wp with Scotland, which will allow for comparisons across different coastal management systems facing similar OA-challenges. Stakeholder representatives will be involved at all stages
of the project. It is a transdisciplinary project, including marine scientists, anthropologists and environmental governance scholars.