El nuevo paradigma de la gobernanza de los recursos naturales en el Mediterráneoel dilema de su análisis y evaluación en un contexto de Economía Azul y de digitalización

Resumen

This Thesis has a multidisciplinary character, so that different areas of knowledge related to social, natural and technological sciences interact with the aim of advancing knowledge on the new paradigm of governance of natural resources in the current digital era, providing innovative tools for the evaluation and analysis of governance, from a social and technological dimension, to improve strategies for sustainability and conservation of ecosystems. The research will facilitate and determine the essential steps to be followed in the analysis and evaluation of resource governance to avoid the degradation of nature and the overexploitation of natural resources in the Mediterranean. The general objectives are: 1) To justify the potential of the proposed innovative ICT-based solutions to improve the participation of key actors and to improve the governance of natural resources; 2) To analyse whether the evaluation of natural resource governance, through technical projects supported by ICT and/or combined with the development of analytical frameworks adapted to the socio-economic conditions of each territory is a methodological tool that offers a significant improvement in the management of the natural resources; 3) To identify whether the development of multidisciplinary projects applied to the management of natural resources reinforces conservation objectives and sustainability strategies for good environmental governance in the Mediterranean. Methodology: In order to respond to these general objectives, five specific research case studies have been carried out, which focuses on the governance of natural resources in the Mediterranean and ICTs: Case study 1: Analysis of official websites in three Spanish marine protected areas on Aarhus Convention standards and citizen participation; Case study 2: Approaches for the analysis and assessment of good environmental governance in marine protected areas in the Mediterranean of southeastern Spain; Case study 3: A combination of ICT solutions and socio-ecological indicators to facilitate the assessment of good governance and improve the management of Posidonia oceanica in the Sierra Helada Marine Natural Park; Case study 4: WATERMED 4. 0 a digital platform to improve the governance and management of water resources used in agricultural areas of influence in the Mediterranean; and Case study 5: Collaborative networks and ICT tools to address the challenges of blue biotechnology and facilitate governance processes in the Mediterranean by boosting the Blue Economy: the case of the Hub in Spain. The main results obtained in the research have been the development of ICT tools and specific analytical frameworks to study, evaluate and analyse different components of governance adapted to different natural resources in the Mediterranean, from marine protected areas (Case studies 1, 2 and 3) to water resources used in agriculture (Case study 4) or other marine resources (Case study 5). Conclusions: The research studies presented offer a new perspective to promote more equitable, efficient, and effective sustainability strategies. That is through the combination of good governance indicators and analytical frameworks with technological solutions to facilitate their implementation. In this line, the results obtained highlight the importance of combining different scientific disciplines (social sciences, natural sciences, and technological sciences) to advance knowledge on how to analyse and evaluate the governance of natural resources in the Mediterranean and improve sustainability and conservation strategies. This combination allows to improve decision-making processes and to promote the participation of society in management aspects. However, it should be noted that there are no panaceas or single ways for the evaluation of the governance of natural resources, although, to carry out a successful evaluation, it is necessary to investigate and understand the different components that form this governance, and how these parts influence the behaviour of the actors and the sustainability of the natural resources studied, taking into account the political, social and economic context of each territory. Despite the above, it can be concluded that a high diversity of rules (formal and informal), institutions, actors, scientific disciplines, processes, technological solutions, etc, increase the resilience of the governance system to possible disturbances and encourages a positive evaluation of indicators of good governance in the natural resources studied in this research.