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Promotor / Advisor
Keyword
Location research
Date
2025-05
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Language
en
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Abstract
This keynote advances a positional understanding of island and ocean research by foregrounding insularity as an epistemic standpoint rather than a marginal condition. Drawing on historical cartography, colonial resource extraction, and contemporary sustainability challenges in Aruba, it argues that dominant oceanic and environmental knowledge systems are shaped by surface-oriented, extractive perspectives that obscure lived island realities. By “looking below the surface,” the lecture reframes oceans as relational spaces that entangle ecology, history, governance, and community knowledge. The contribution situates island scholarship within asymmetrical spatial, demographic, and political scales, highlighting how small islands operate within vast marine territories while negotiating disproportionate local and global pressures. Using Aruba as a case, it connects marine science, sustainability education, and community-based research through the SISSTEM programs, illustrating how locally grounded, interdisciplinary approaches can generate globally relevant insights. Ultimately, the keynote calls for reflexive, place-aware ocean research that recognizes positionality, embraces limits, and redefines excellence through responsibility, reciprocity, and long-term stewardship.
Citation
Mijts, E. (2025, May). Insular perspectives: oceans, sustainability and island scholarship. [Conference presentation]. ICMS 2025 From island to the global oceans. University of Aruba.
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Journal / Book / Conference
ICMS 2025 From island to the global oceans