• Login
  • Membership
Royal Geographical Society with IBG
  • About us
  • Geography
  • Schools
  • Research
  • Professionals
  • In the field
  • What's on

Search the society

Enter keyword or phrase...
Find
Royal Geographical Society with IBG
Back to Resources for teachers

Seaweed farming

Hugging the Coast: An exploration by sea kayak of liminal (marginal) living and rural development in North Sulawesi, Indonesia

  • Module,
  • Environmental interactions and management,
  • Natural resources and energy,
  • Key Stage Four
  • Overview
  • Lesson one: Case study
  • Lesson two: Data analysis
  • Lesson three: Practical task
  • Follow up

Key words

  • Development

  • Exploration

  • Archipelago

  • Quality of life

  • Liminal zones

  • Standard of living

  • Resource consumption

  • Rural development

  • Bias

Summary

Between July and September 2012 an international team of six women traversed the length of the Sangihe Archipelago in by sea-kayak. They observed, documented and engaged with life in the archipelago’s ‘liminal zones’, with a special focus on seaweed farming.

This area is known as the Coral Triangle. It is the Amazon of the seas, because of the high levels of biodiversity. It is a tectonically active area and the team experienced numerous minor earthquakes and spent time on a number of volcanic islands.

The initiative to introduce seaweed farming is trying to address a crisis of food security and climate change. The Government has limited rice imports as they want to become self-sufficient; this has led to food shortages. So seaweed farming is a poverty alleviation strategy:  seaweed can be harvested four times a year, increasing production levels. The seaweed also scrubs the sea and removes carbon, so helping with climate change.

Location

The Sangihe Archipelago is located off of the northern coast of Sulawesi, one of the Central Indonesian islands. The northern tip of the archipelago lies approximately 160km south of the Philippines. The archipelago stretches 320 km from Manado to Sangihe in the Celebes Sea.

Aims

  • To investigate quality of life issues of the people living in the liminal zones

  • To focus on the role of seaweed farming in the local community, and particularly the role of females in seaweed farming

  • To investigate how expedition techniques (such as arriving in the remote communities by kayak) can influence research methods and outcomes

Research techniques

  • Semi-structured and in-depth interviews

  • Audio-recordings

  • Video and digital photography

Key topics and themes

This research project links to development, change in rural areas, and climate change

Key questions

What is the quality of life for people living in the liminal zone of the Sangihe archipelago, Indonesia?

Is sustainable development currently possible in the case study area?

How can interviews and photography (still and video) best be used during fieldwork?

About the author

Phil Avery is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and an Associate Headteacher at Bohunt School in Hampshire. He is a Geography graduate from Oxford University who has a passion for inspiring the next generation about incredible places, adventure and learning. As well as participating on geographical expeditions to Antarctica, Iceland and Belarus, he has also led student expeditions to Borneo and Greenland. Closer to home he promotes Challenge Based Learning, the use of new technologies and Outdoor Education.

The researchers

The 'Hugging the Coast' team was led by Dr Duika Burges Watson, FRGS, a Lecturer in Evaluation and Policy Interventions within the Centre for Public Policy and Health, Durham University, and Dr Johanna Wadsley, FRGS, a Research Associate in the School of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London. The social scientists were supported by Lena Conlan, a professional wilderness educator, expedition leader and teacher-practitioner of wilderness medicine, and sea kayak guide, film-maker and arctic expeditioner, Vonna Keller.  Research assistants Arny Caroles and Jacqline Laikun, undergraduate students in the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science at Sam Ratulangi University, Manado, completed the six-strong all-female team

'From the field' Awards - Inspiring fieldwork supported by the RGS-IBG

Delivered in collaboration with The Goldsmiths' Company, these awards enable geography teachers to work alongside practioners at the cutting edge of geographical research to develop educational resources for the classroom.

Downloads

  • Seaweed Farming Links to GCSE Specification (.doc)
  • Seaweed Farming Links to GCSE Specification (.pdf)
  • Seaweed Farming Teachers' Notes (.doc)
  • Seaweed Farming Teachers' Notes (.pdf)
  • Seaweed Farming Ask the Expert (.doc)
  • Seaweed Farming Ask the Expert (.pdf)
  • Seaweed Farming Key Word Definitions (.doc)
  • Seaweed Farming Key Word Definitions (.pdf)
  • Seaweed Farming Lesson 1 Compass Rose (.doc)
  • Seaweed Farming Lesson 1 Compass Rose (.pdf)
  • Seaweed Farming Lesson 1 Starter- Odd One Out (.ppt)
  • Seaweed Farming Lesson 1 Starter- Image Interrogation (.ppt)
  • Seaweed Farming Lesson 1 Main- Characters (.ppt)
  • Seaweed Farming Making Money (.doc)
  • Seaweed Farming Making Money (.pdf)
  • Seaweed Farming The Environment (.doc)
  • Seaweed Farming The Environment (.pdf)
  • Seaweed Farming Lesson 2 Phenomenological Research Document (.pdf)
  • Seaweed Farming Interview Transcript (.doc)
  • Seaweed Farming Interview Transcript (.pdf)
  • Seaweed Farming Follow Up Fieldwork Extracts (.doc)
  • Seaweed Farming Follow Up Fieldwork Extracts (.pdf)
  • Seaweed Farming Follow Up Antarctic Sledge Haul (.xls)
  • Seaweed Farming Follow Up Cycle Across America (.xls)
  • Download all

Login

Sign in
Forgotten password

Or continue as a guest...

By placing a booking, you are permitting us to store and use your (and any other attendees) details in order to fulfil the booking.
We will not use your details for marketing purposes without your explicit consent.

Continue

This content is restricted

You must be a member holding a valid Society membership to view the content you are trying to access. Please login to continue.

 

Not a member? Find out how to join

Join us today, Society membership is open to anyone with a passion for geography

Find out more

Address

Royal Geographical Society
(with the Insitute of British Geographers),
1 Kensington Gore,
London, SW7 2AR

T +44 (0)20 7591 3000
F +44 (0)20 7591 3001
E enquiries@rgs.org

Follow us

We are the learned society for geography and geographers. Be part of our community by following us on our social media accounts.

  • twitter
  • youtube
  • linkedin
  • facebook
  • instagram

Links

  • JOIN THE SOCIETY
  • COURSES & EVENTS
  • TEACHING RESOURCES
  • SOCIETY NEWS
  • MYSOCIETY LOGIN
  • SITEMAP

Cookies on the RGS website This site uses cookies to enhance your user experience.