Coastal ecosystems are undergoing rapid transformation driven by climate change, environmental degradation, and shifting social and geopolitical pressures, generating uncertainty for coastal communities. Marine governance practitioners operate at the centre of these challenges, working across research, policy, planning, and industry to interpret, implement, and shape responses to change.
Drawing on interviews with practitioners and researchers, this paper presents research on the perspectives and lived experiences of those working in marine governance. Beyond their formal roles, participants described the personal dimensions of working in rapidly changing governance contexts, including a strong sense of responsibility tied to professional and ocean identity, alongside emotional labour and institutional constraints.
While ocean governance is often framed through technical, institutional, or ecological lenses, the findings highlight the deeply human dimensions that shape how governance is enacted in practice and demonstrate that policy is powered by people. These insights position governance as a lived, relational practice shaped by emotional, ethical, and identity‑based dimensions that directly influence how marine policy and management decisions are interpreted and enacted.
This paper argues that recognising and engaging with these human elements can strengthen marine policy and management. More reflexive, people‑centred governance approaches can support adaptive and transformative responses to socio‑ecological change.