A Healthy Metaphor? The North Sea Consultation and the Power of Words

Haye Geukes, Udo Pesch, Aad Correljé and Behnam Taebi
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Haye Geukes: Faculty of Science, Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), Leiden University, 2311 EZ Leiden, The Netherlands
Udo Pesch: Department of Values, Technology and Innovation, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
Aad Correljé: Department of Values, Technology and Innovation, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands
Behnam Taebi: Department of Values, Technology and Innovation, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P.O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-16

Abstract: The North Sea Consultation was set up to resolve conflicting claims for space in the North Sea. In 2020, this consultation process resulted in the North Sea Agreement, which was supported by the Dutch Parliament and cabinet as a long-term policy; however, the fishing sector felt excluded, left the consultation process, and does not support the agreement. Using semi-constructed interviews and the method of wide reflective equilibrium, this research found that in this conflict the metaphor of ‘health’ has played a decisive role. While all stakeholders want to keep the sea ‘healthy’, they disagree on what a healthy sea actually means, leading to contrastive positions on the desirability of trawler fishing, wind parks, and conservation areas—the North Sea Agreement’s main foci of interest. To prevent the unproductive escalation of such a conflict, it is inevitable to acknowledge the moral connotations of such metaphors, as this allows a decision-making process that can be considered more just.

Keywords: North Sea agreement; North Sea consultation; metaphors; ecological health; fishery; offshore wind energy; wicked problems; political negotiation processes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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