TY - JOUR

T1 - Scientific mobilization of keystone actors for biosphere stewardship

AU - Österblom, Henrik

AU - Folke, Carl

AU - Rocha, Juan

AU - Bebbington, Jan

AU - Blasiak, Robert

AU - Jouffray, Jean-Baptiste

AU - Selig, Elizabeth R

AU - Wabnitz, C.

AU - Bengtsson, F.

AU - Crona, Beatrice

AU - Gupta, Radhika

AU - Henriksson, Stockholm

AU - Johansson, Stockholm

AU - Merrie, Stockholm

AU - Nakayama, Stanford

AU - Crespo, Stockholm

AU - Rockström, Stockholm

AU - Schultz, Stockholm

AU - Sobkowiak, Madlen

AU - Søgaard Jørgensen, P

AU - Spijkers, Stockholm

AU - Troell, Stockholm

AU - Villarrubia‑Gómez, Stockholm

AU - Lubchenco, Jane

PY - 2022/3/4

Y1 - 2022/3/4

N2 - The biosphere crisis requires changes to existing business practices. We ask how corporations can become sustainability leaders, when constrained by multiple barriers to collaboration for biosphere stewardship. We describe how scientists motivated, inspired and engaged with ten of the world’s largest seafood companies, in a collaborative process aimed to enable science-based and systemic transformations (2015–2021). CEOs faced multiple industry crises in 2015 that incentivized novel approaches. New scientific insights, an invitation to collaborate, and a bold vision of transformative change towards ocean stewardship, created new opportunities and direction. Co-creation of solutions resulted in new knowledge and trust, a joint agenda for action, new capacities, international recognition, formalization of an organization, increased policy influence, time-bound goals, and convergence of corporate change. Independently funded scientists helped remove barriers to cooperation, provided means for reflection, and guided corporate strategies and actions toward ocean stewardship. By 2021, multiple individuals exercised leadership and the initiative had transitioned from preliminary and uncomfortable conversations, to a dynamic, operational organization, with capacity to perform global leadership in the seafood industry. Mobilizing transformational agency through learning, collaboration, and innovation represents a cultural evolution with potential to redirect and accelerate corporate action, to the benefit of business, people and the planet.

AB - The biosphere crisis requires changes to existing business practices. We ask how corporations can become sustainability leaders, when constrained by multiple barriers to collaboration for biosphere stewardship. We describe how scientists motivated, inspired and engaged with ten of the world’s largest seafood companies, in a collaborative process aimed to enable science-based and systemic transformations (2015–2021). CEOs faced multiple industry crises in 2015 that incentivized novel approaches. New scientific insights, an invitation to collaborate, and a bold vision of transformative change towards ocean stewardship, created new opportunities and direction. Co-creation of solutions resulted in new knowledge and trust, a joint agenda for action, new capacities, international recognition, formalization of an organization, increased policy influence, time-bound goals, and convergence of corporate change. Independently funded scientists helped remove barriers to cooperation, provided means for reflection, and guided corporate strategies and actions toward ocean stewardship. By 2021, multiple individuals exercised leadership and the initiative had transitioned from preliminary and uncomfortable conversations, to a dynamic, operational organization, with capacity to perform global leadership in the seafood industry. Mobilizing transformational agency through learning, collaboration, and innovation represents a cultural evolution with potential to redirect and accelerate corporate action, to the benefit of business, people and the planet.

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-022-07023-8

DO - 10.1038/s41598-022-07023-8

M3 - Journal article

VL - 12

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

SN - 2045-2322

M1 - 3802

ER -