BRIDGES Ocean Talks #1

What can we learn from studying the transformations of marine socio-ecological systems in the southwestern Indian Ocean?

Join us for the first webinar in the BRIDGES Ocean Talks series!

📍On the dedicated webinar platform
Or watch the replay on the BRIDGES YouTube page

📅 Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 1:00 PM (UTC+4)

🗨️ Speaker: Adrien Comte, IRD Research Fellow in Sustainability Sciences and co-leader of the BRIDGES IMPACT project

Abstract

Marine socio-ecological systems (SES) are facing unprecedented pressures, requiring approaches aimed at creating more sustainable interactions within these systems. Transformation theory offers frameworks for understanding and documenting systemic changes, but its empirical application in marine contexts remains limited.

In this webinar, we analyze three case studies of marine transformations in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region:

the reduction of bycatch in South African fisheries,
fisheries co-management in Tanzania, and
regional management of pelagic fisheries.

Each case was examined using Olsson’s transformation framework (i.e., preparing for change, navigating the transition, and building resilience).

This webinar explores the challenges of fisheries governance at various scales, from local to regional, highlighting the human, institutional, and political dynamics that shape trajectories of change.

This presentation is related to the recent publication cited below.

Publication : Rachel Bitoun, Adrien Comte, Shauna Mahajan, Rodolphe Devillers. Assessing past marine social-ecological systems transformations in the southwestern Indian Ocean: A case study approach. Transformations Community & Earth System Governance TC/ESG2025 Conference, Aug 2025, Johannesburg, South Africa. ⟨hal-05493549⟩

Speaker

Adrien COMTE

Research Fellow, IRD – LEMAR Laboratory, Saint-Pierre, Réunion

His research focuses on assessing environmental sustainability, developing indicators and ecosystem accounts, and evaluating the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of marine socio-ecosystems in the face of climate change. It also includes analyzing the contribution of marine ecosystems as solutions to these challenges.

After completing graduate studies in the United States, he earned a Ph.D. in environmental economics from the University of Western Brittany in 2018. His dissertation focused on the use of interdisciplinary approaches to inform research and action regarding the vulnerability of coral socio-ecosystems to climate change. Following his PhD, he completed a first postdoctoral fellowship at the AMURE laboratory, dedicated to assessing the vulnerability of human populations dependent on coral reefs in French Polynesia, and then a second postdoctoral fellowship at CIRED, focusing on ecological accounting as well as the definition of environmental sustainability accounts and indicators.

Finally, he works at the consulting firm EcoAct as an expert on nature-based solutions.

He is a co-leader of the IMPACT targeted project within the BRIDGES program and is based in Saint Pierre, Réunion.