scaleD innovation For small-scale fisheries

In Collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation

 

Background

Fisheries and aquaculture are the foundation of both livelihoods and food security for billions of people around the world. Coupled with rising global demand for fish, this dependency has intensified overfishing.


Scientific evidence makes it clear that if current trends continue, the global marine ecosystem risks collapse. Meanwhile, as fish stocks grow scarce, livelihood opportunities for those involved in the fisheries value-chain also dwindle, increasing their socio-economic vulnerability.


This issue is considered a “super wicked challenge ” with a large set of players that have conflicting motivations and demands, complex feedback loops and driving dynamics, behaviors not aligned with long-term welfare, and a system stretched beyond regeneration rates. 

 

Intent 

As the Innovation Partner for Rockefeller’s Oceans & Fisheries Initiative (O&F), ChangeLabs worked on identifying robust strategies to produce scaled impact in local fishery management and help secure the lives of vulnerable people. From October 2013 to June 2014, a team worked with the O&F team and their partners to frame the challenges, identify new approaches, and design high-impact solutions.

 

Impact Goals

The ChangeLabs team focused on three main core objectives:

 

1. Co-Create Scaled Strategies:  ChangeLabs worked with the O&F team, a learning partner, a scale strategy partner, Rockefeller’s grantees, domain and sector-level experts, field practitioners, institutional actors, and funders. The entire group met during two multi-day summits that were specifically designed for the project.

 

2. Develop Opportunities to Influence Decision-makers:  ChangeLabs analyzed how main actors approach the challenges inherent in fisheries management and assessed potential innovation opportunities.

 

3. Provide Input About the Design of Innovation Labs:  ChangeLabs' focus was to help evolve the appropriate and effective role of Innovation Partners through a "learning by doing" approach.

 

 

Approach 

Four high-potential intervention strategies emerged from the summits and activities. The ChangeLabs team revised, stress-tested, and significantly refined these strategies, with feedback from relevant context experts. Each strategy sprung from a co-creative process with experts and practitioners, engaged a diverse set of domains, and merged high-level strategic concerns with ground-level realities.

 

 

 

“IN JUST TWO DAYS, WE'VE ACHIEVED MORE THAN WHAT WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO FOR SIX MONTHS.”


- Member of The Ocean and Fisheries Team, Rockefeller Foundation.