BLUE GREEN BROWN DESIGNS
Blue Economy Scoping Study
We do network analysis and visualisations.
We were invited by the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS)
of the University of Wollongong to do a scoping study of innovation networks in the blue economy across the beautiful
South Coast of New South Wales, Australia.
Via long-form interviews, we uncovered the people working in the blue economy - i.e. those industries that rely on ocean resources.
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We asked,
Who are the innovators?
Which government agencies are supporting them?
What policies are people using?
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Are they all connected?
Or are they in fact working in silos?
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For this study, we worked with academics across disciplines from human geography, marine science, economics to complex systems science.
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The results were shared with government locally, the public and at international conferences.
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Go to Launching a Blue Economy - the ARC funded project to learn more!
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To see a visualisation of the innovation network - take a look at our network diagram.
Visualising the network
Who are the innovators?
We asked people working in blue economy industries on the
South Coast of NSW Australia,
"Who do you consider innovative?"
We analysed the 'indegree' or popularity index for people who were mentioned the most.
Firstly we mapped this by type.
Innovators in technology, particularly biotech, were most commonly mentioned as being innovative.
This was followed by a wide range of people who offer Indigenous experiences and knowledge.
The businesses most admired for their innovation were often not big business but rather medium and small-scale enterprises.
Each circle above represents all the people working in that sector.
Colours show the sector.
Visualising the key regions
Where is innovation happening?
Each circle below represents all the people working in that region. Colours show the sector.
We then grouped innovators by where they were headquartered
to see where innovation was concentrated.
Despite thousands of kilometres, businesses were still connecting and
aware of each other's work in the blue economy.
Visualising the key policy
Finally, which policies and plans are being shared?
Each circle below represents a policy document.
Colours show which sector that policy reflects.