The seas and oceans are currently taking centre stage in academic study and public consciousness. From the plastics littering our seas, to the role of climate change on ocean currents from unequal access of marine resources to the treacherous experiences of seafarers who keep our global economy afloat; now is a crucial time to examine how we live with the sea.

This ambitious book brings together an interdisciplinary and international cohort of contributors from within and beyond academia. It offers a range and diversity of insights unlike previous collections. An ‘oceanic turn’ is taking place, with a burgeoning of academic work that takes seriously the place of seas and oceans in understanding socio-cultural and political life, past and present. Yet, there is a significant gap concerning the ways in which we engage with seas and oceans, with a will to enliven action and evoke change. This book explores these challenges, offering insights from spatial planning, architectural design, geography, educational studies, anthropology and cultural studies. An examination through these lenses can help us to better understand human relationships with the seas and oceans, and promote an ethic of care for the future.

Mike Brown is the General Manager of Coastguard Boating Education, New Zealand. He holds a part-time Senior Research Fellowship at Auckland University of Technology. Published works include Adventurous Learning: A Pedagogy for a Changing World (2016), and Seascapes: Shaped by the Sea (2015, with B. Humberstone). Mike has been involved in UK sail training and cruised the South West Pacific by sailboat. He lives on his yacht within a few hundred metres of his workplace.

Kimberley Peters teaches Human Geography at the University of Liverpool. Her research seeks to better understand the governance of maritime and other ‘non-grounded’ spaces. She is a member of Liverpool’s Institute for Sustainable Coasts and Oceans (LISCO) and the Centre for Port and Maritime History. Her work includes The Mobilities of Ships (2015) and Carceral Mobilities (2017). Kimberley has written over 30 peer reviewed articles and book chapters.