Policy Corner

Are you a policy maker in the UK and interested in the sustainable management of UK marine resources? If so, you’re in the right place – this page contains key details on policy-relevant information about the SMMR programme. 

About SMMR:

The Sustainable Management of UK Marine Resources (SMMR) Strategic Priorities Fund was a £12.4m initiative dedicated to funding marine research that addressed critical gaps in understanding – as identified by UK policy makers. 

The programme aimed to bring together marine scientists, policy makers, industry representatives, wider stakeholders and the public to build a strong marine research community and, ultimately, bridge the gap between science and policy.

SMMR Aims:

SMMR aimed to support new approaches to managing UK marine environments through collaborative, cutting-edge research. In doing so, it sought to inform and invigorate UK marine policy. 

Policy involvement to date: 

• In 2020, policy stakeholders with an interest in the SMMR programme were invited to share their priorities for future research, particularly, the outputs and solutions that would be of greatest benefit to them. 
• From 2020 – 2021, the SMMR research community used this information to target their research, developing proposals for projects that would meet the needs of policy stakeholders. 
• In May 2022, following the announcement of the SMMR funded projects, policy makers were invited to attend the 2022 SMMR Annual Conference, hearing updates against their research priorities. 
• In October 2022, funded project leads met with policy makers to explore how their outputs will support the development of new policy. 

From initial policy input in 2020, the programme devised three core themes:

1. Understanding values associated with the marine environment;
2. Building tools to support management;
3. Designing interventions to support policy.

These core themes were specifically designed to deliver outputs that would be relevant to the identified needs of marine policy stakeholders.

Over the lifetime of the programme, SMMR worked to:

• Deliver approaches and tools for improved environmental, social and economic outcomes, focusing on public goods and net gain. These tools and approaches will inform policy interventions and management scenarios. 
• Make recommendations on future policy concerning interventions to improve the marine environment and achieve net gain. 
• Utilise social, economic and environmental metrics to enable interventions to be evaluated. 

Funded Projects:

SMMR funded six innovative projects that each addressed two of the programme’s three core themes. The research conducted by the six projects aimed to directly inform future marine policy, and was centred around the identified needs of UK policy makers. 

Resilience of Coastal Communities (ROCC)

The ROCC project explored the past and present management of marine environments to help people make better management decisions in the future. This approach helped decision makers find a balance between the marine environment, people’s wellbeing, and community resilience, leading to a more sustainable use of marine resources and benefits for people.

For more information about ROCC, visit here. 

Integrating Diverse Values into Marine Management

The Integrating Diverse Values into Marine Management project aimed to increase understanding and implementation of diverse values into marine policy and decision making. The project achieved this through the creation of transition plans that helped institutions embed transdisciplinary practices into their business and their activities. 

For more information about Integrating Diverse Values into Marine Management, visit here. 

Pyramids of Life: Working with Nature

The ‘Pyramids of Life’ approach to a sustainable future captures and helped to communicate complex relationships between different species, human behaviours, and marine ecosystem functions. This work provided a multidimensional perspective of the value (economic, social, and environmental) of marine ecosystems, so that future management interventions are based squarely on what is sustainable. 

For more information about Pyramids of Life, visit here. 

Co-Benefit Solutions for Resilient Coasts (Co-Opt)

Co-Opt delivered a new framework that supported the transition from hard ‘grey’ defences (e.g. groynes, stepped sea walls, and rip-rap sea walls) to softer ‘green’ solutions (e.g. managed realignment, restoration of coastal habitats, and sand mega-nourishments) for coastal and shoreline management. This provided a scalable and adaptive solution to support coastal management and policy development.

For more information about Co-Opt, visit here. 

Marine Spatial Planning Addressing Climate Effects (MSPACE)

The MSPACE project aimed to drive forward the capability of the four UK nations in designing and implementing economically viable and socially acceptable climate-smart marine spatial plans (MSP). By first assessing climate change effects across the whole UK EEZ, and then exploring the economic and social dimensions of those effects, the project worked to ensure sustainable management of marine resources and improve the marine environment for the next generation.

For more information about MSPACE, visit here. 

Restoration of Seagrass for Ocean Wealth (ReSOW UK)

ReSOW UK facilitated informed management and restoration of seagrass for sustainable social, environmental and economic net gains for the UK. This research aided the development of applied online tools to enable the integration of seagrass into sustainable marine management. 

For more information about ReSOW UK, visit here.