Context

The BRIDGES Research Program aims to support the transformation of governance frameworks for more sustainable and fair management of marine resources in its study sites in the south-west Indian Ocean.

The BRIDGES-IMPACT targeted project aims to amplify the impact of the programme by :

• Supporting local stakeholders in defining desirable futures, trajectories and the steps needed to achieve them. Understanding, monitoring and amplifying these transformations through a monitoring-evaluation framework.
• Facilitating the consolidation of the theory of change for BRIDGES.
• Contributing to knowledge on the impact of research, and more particularly transdisciplinary research, on the transformations of marine socio-ecosystems.

Facilitating the consolidation of the theory of change for BRIDGES

Theory of change

The theory of change (Oberlack et al., 2019) is a tool that helps to understand how and why an action can lead to change. It helps to articulate the objectives, diagnoses, activities and expected impacts of research.

It provides a structure for collective reflection, enabling strategies to be adapted and results to be critically assessed, thereby helping to make scientific projects more effective.

A reflective approach within the program

To clarify its ambitions for 2040 and characterise the steps needed to achieve them, BRIDGES is adopting a reflective approach inspired by the theory of change and Transition Design (Irwin, 2018).

These approaches are based on collective work internal to the programme in several key stages:

1. Mapping and visualising complex problems by identifying their interconnections and interdependencies.
2. Analysing spatio-temporal contexts to place issues in a long-term perspective.
3. Facilitating the co-creation of visions of desired futures based on collective objectives by targeted project leaders.
4. Identify strategic leverage points to guide action and catalyse change.

It enables transformations to be set on a coherent trajectory that can be adjusted according to feedback and changes in context.

Figure 10: Backcasting from a future vision co-creates a transition path towards a desired future. Source: Irwin, Kossoff, Tonkinwise (2015).

Visioning: imagining desired futures

Visioning is a process of creating a collective vision of a desirable future. This desired state of the future is distinct from predictions (probable states) and trajectories (paths to get there). It serves to inspire and guide stakeholders in the construction of a shared future (Wiek & Iwaniec, 2014).

BRIDGES-IMPACT organised an initial visioning workshop on 17 January 2025, bringing together the program’s target project leaders. During this session, the participants worked on :

1. Defining the transformations up to 2040: they identified the desired changes in the South-West Indian Ocean region if the BRIDGES program is successful. The dimensions of change considered during the workshop were changes in production practices; economic relations; uses, values and commitment; the political and regulatory framework; and changes in knowledge, research and education.
2. Identifying the potential impacts of these changes, and anticipate their positive and negative consequences. Using the ‘Wheel of Futures’, they explored the cascading effects, identifying direct, indirect and possibly more distant effects.
3. Identifying the priority levers for action to maximise positive impacts, and the elements to be prepared to achieve the vision constructed.

The workshop was organised and led by Rachel Bitoun (Espace-Dev, IRD), Adrien Comte (LEMAR, IRD), Rodolphe Devillers (Espace-Dev, IRD), Delphine Gandini (IRD), Mireille Matt (LISIS, INRAe) and Renée Van Dis (LISIS, INRAe).

An iterative process to refine impact pathways

This visioning workshop laid the foundations for a shared vision of the program. It is only the first step in a wider process. Two further sessions are planned:

• Session 2: Understanding the context (mapping of challenges and opportunities, analysis of factors influencing the transformation of socio-ecosystems).
• Session 3: Mapping the impact pathways (definition of key actions, articulation of the levers of change).

Find out more

Baumann, L., Riechers, M., Celliers, L., & Ferse, S. C. A. (2023). Anticipating and transforming futures : A literature review on transdisciplinary coastal research in the Global South. Ecosystems and People, 19(1), 2288957. https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2023.2288957

Kim, J., & Oki, T. (2011). Visioneering : An essential framework in sustainability science. Sustainability Science, 6(2), 247‑251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-011-0130-8

Pereira, L. M., Ortuño Crespo, G., Amon, D. J., Badhe, R., Bandeira, S., Bengtsson, F., Boettcher, M., Carmine, G., Cheung, W. W. L., Chibwe, B., Dunn, D., Gasalla, M. A., Halouani, G., Johnson, D. E., Jouffray, J.-B., Juri, S., Keys, P. W., Lübker, H. M., Merrie, A. S., … Zhou, W. (2023). The living infinite : Envisioning futures for transformed human-nature relationships on the high seas. Marine Policy, 153, 105644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105644