| dc.description.abstract | Despite the growing acknowledgement within the academic literature that human well-being is an important aspect of marine spatial planning (MSP), research and practice continue to neglect this concept. Specifically, the consequences of marine development and climate change on human health is largely absent from ocean governance processes and needs to be addressed. This study argues that human health and spatial planning frameworks may be employed in combination to investigate this issue. Guided by the concept of salutogenesis (health promotion), this study utilized online participatory mapping in conjunction with a questionnaire to explore study participants’ perceptions of the health benefits of and barriers to participating in coastal activities within Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), Nova Scotia, Canada. Results from this study indicated that participating in coastal activities in HRM is perceived to be very important for human health. Criteria for salutogenically significant areas (SSAs) were developed by referring to the CBD criteria for biologically and ecologically significant areas, which included uniqueness, diversity, productivity, importance for underserved populations and vulnerability. Recommendations have been made for gathering SSA criteria information while enabling marine managers to make more informed decisions about how to best consider human health objectives within MSP. Further application of this participatory mapping approach to gather human health data, particularly to collaborate or partner with diverse and underserved population groups is recommended.
Keywords: Marine spatial planning (MSP); blue space; salutogenesis; human health; oceans and human health (OHH); health equity; planetary health | en_US |
