Sense of Place

en español

Immediate Next Steps

By October 28th, please:

After October 28th, I will assume that the lists are complete and move forward on those subgoals.

This goal measures human connections to the marine environment that provide a deep sense of identity and belonging.

Feelings of identity and belonging stem from – for example:

  • Sense of identity within a community
  • Connection(s) to place(s)
  • Connections to plants and animals

CORE DEFINITIONS

The objective of the Sense of Belonging/Place goal is to determine how well we are sustainably caring for the marine regions that provide heritage, shared memories, and identity, and to promote the connections between the Gulf of California and local communities, including pueblos originarios.

Goalkeeper Meetings

Meeting Access

Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3255055973

Key Team Members
  • Amy Hudson Weaver
  • Ana Luisa Figueroa
  • Carmina Valiente
  • Geovanni Coredero Herrera
  • Jorge Torre
  • Lorayne Meltzer
  • Marlu Robledo
  • Micheline Cariño Olvera
  • Michelle MarĂ­a Early Capistrán
  • Rick Brusca
  • Victor Ricardez
Meeting Schedule (Tuesday 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT)
Meeting Specific Date Focus
1 August 5, 2025 Group introductions, OHI platform overview, goal calculations
2 September 9, 2025 Model and reference point discussion
3 October 7, 2025 Model, reference point, and data sources
4 November 11, 2025 Preliminary results and pressure/resilience
5 December 2, 2025 Final analysis plan review
Co-authorship Information

This project provides opportunities to collaborate with regional experts and contribute to Gulf of California OHI assessment. Participation will be acknowledged on the website and other products. Additional co-authorship opportunities may be available with extra commitment as outlined here.

Google Calendar

Add the shared calendar to your Google Calendar account using the provided link. It will appear under “Other calendars” and provide access to all scheduled meetings with updated Zoom links.

Please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to working on this initiative with you!

  • SB Goalkeeper Ideas, where you can add your thoughts, ideas, and potential data sources to the ongoing collaborative document.


Meeting Summaries

Thank you for joining our first Sense of Belonging (SB) Goalkeeper meeting!
It was a great start to our work together in defining what sense of belonging and place means for the Gulf of California, and how it should be integrated into this assessment.

Meeting Recap

During our discussion, experts of the group emphasized the importance of artisanal fishing communities and their multi-generational ties to the sea, and that the sense of belonging has a big connection to both past and future generations.

  • While it was noted that artisanal fishing already has its own goal, it was then discussed whether identity- and community-based aspects should be incorporated separately. We will likely define that as we move forward and have a more solidified definition of Sense of Belonging as a goal.

The group then described the wide variation in environmental connection among Gulf communities — from small rural towns with direct ocean dependence to larger urban areas with weaker ties. A scale (e.g., 0 to 10) was proposed to measure connection to place and species, with examples such as Loreto’s link to tourism and blue whales versus communities more focused on fishing and food.

Cultural anthropology perspectives on territory and access were introduced, and the group explored possible indicators, such as:

  • environmental education programs,
  • activism, and
  • access to public spaces

to measure the Sense of Belonging in the Gulf of California.

Concerns were raised about indigenous access rights, and the difficulties of using “rights” as a proxy, as there are some groups that do not have territorial rights despite being a significant cultural and community group.

The North American place-based education framework was also highlighted as very different from the GoCA regional way to define connections between people and nature, and this should be kept in mind as we move forward.

The group agreed that belonging is closely tied to identity and memories rooted in a territory.

  • Based on this input, they decided the goal should focus on defining and measuring belonging across the Gulf’s diverse communities. To better reflect this focus, the goal’s name was changed from “Sense of Place” to “Sense of Belonging”.
Next steps

More topics to think about before our next meeting:

  • What is the ideal sense of belonging for the Gulf of California?
  • What could be potential indicators for measuring sense of belonging (e.g., education, activism, access, governance factors)?
  • What are potential reference points for the Sense of Belonging goal?

Thank you all and see you next meeting (see the SB Goalkeeper Group Information: who, what, when, where, why! tab at the top of the page for more information)!

Thank you for joining our second Sense of Belonging (SB) Goalkeeper meeting!
This was such a fruitful discussion on the definition of Sense of Belonging, the possible ways to measure the goal, and based on that, the possible subgoals to be associated with this goal.

We started this meeting by solidifying the general definition for the Sense of Belonging goal. It is as follows:

The objective of the Sense of Belonging goal is to determine how well we are caring and promoting the heritage, shared memories, and identity that connect Gulf of California communities, including pueblos originarios, to their marine and coastal spaces: indicating how strongly people are rooted and included in the Gulf’s past, present, and future.

What is Important to Measure in Sense of Belonging

Next, the group discussed indicators that could reflect how strongly Gulf of California communities feel rooted in and connected to their coasts. Four main themes emerged:

  • Coastal Access (CA)
    Public beach access and the availability of paths, roads, and parking. Repeat exposure to the ocean builds pride and stewardship.

  • Coastal Protection (CP) How well culturally important Gulf-specific sites and legally protected areas are managed and preserved.

  • Coastal Culture (CC)
    Presence and condition of cultural organizations, events, NGO funding, educational programs related to the Gulf, and activism movements. Additionally, the presence and condition of public spaces (malecĂłnes, overlooks), and iconic landmarks (e.g., Cabo arch) that sustain community identity.

  • Iconic Species (IS)
    The status of culturally significant or symbolic species (e.g., vaquita, clams, whales, sea lions) that contribute to identity, tradition, and tourism.

Group Discussion Highlights

During the discussion, participants emphasized how these indicators could be adapted to the Gulf’s unique contexts:

  • Ana Figueroa highlighted the importance of recognizing pueblos originarios in the definition of Sense of Belonging, and noted that Mexico has several legal instruments that already protect species and habitats, even outside of formal protected areas. For example, the NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 identifies species at risk and sets conservation criteria, while the Ley General de Vida Silvestre establishes the national framework for sustainable use and protection of wildlife and their habitats. Other normas provide safeguards for particular species, such as marine turtles. Ana suggested layering these diverse conservation instruments to capture a fuller picture of coastal and cultural protection in the Gulf. She also pointed to the acuerdos de destino, concessions that grant authority over sections of the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone (Zona Federal MarĂ­timo Terrestre) to government agencies (e.g., CONANP) for conservation purposes. While these instruments are unevenly applied and sometimes controversial, they still represent another way belonging and stewardship are exercised through law.

    Ana cautioned that community movements often persist without formal funding, and that mapping the growth of NGOs and local groups over decades might be a stronger indicator than financial measures alone.

  • Marlu Robledo emphasized the role of territory defenders, youth collectives, and educational programs in sustaining belonging. She and Ana both stressed that over-relying on financial metrics risks ignoring the social and cultural resources that communities contribute. Marlu offered to share research on community philanthropy, which shows that local contributions often outweigh foundation support.

  • VĂ­ctor Ricárdez underscored the role of territorial rights and ancestral lands, pointing to examples like the Seri and Yaqui territories, as well as community-led restoration and conservation projects. He stressed that sense of belonging is deeply tied to these cultural-geographic identities, which should be visible in how indicators are defined.

  • Amy Hudson Weaver suggested broadening Coastal Protection to include fishing refuges and concessions created by cooperatives, which foster stewardship and place-based identity. She also proposed tracking community defense movements (e.g., resisting extractive industries) as a reflection of belonging, and raised demographic dynamics (such as immigration and emigration) as factors influencing identity and community connection.

  • Rick Brusca had an integral part in creating the four possible indicators presented earlier (CA, CP, etc). He also proposed an additional indicator: the proportion of a community directly dependent on the coast for their livelihoods (e.g., fishing, tourism). He argued this economic reliance often signals a strong cultural connection to the sea.

Together, these insights enriched the four initial themes by adding nuance around legal frameworks, territorial rights, community movements, and social change as essential components of belonging in the Gulf of California.

Using these ideas to define subgoals

From the discussion, all four example themes (Coastal Access, Coastal Protection, Coastal Culture, and Iconic Species) are important to integrate into the Sense of Belonging goal. In the next meeting, I will be presenting a possible way to integrate all of these ideas into specific subgoals, which we will discuss and solidify as a group.

For context, these subgoals will each have their own indicators and score, which will then be averaged (simple or weighted) into one score for Sense of Belonging for each OHI GoCA region.

Though this may change before the next meeting, the OHI team felt the themes might fit into three subgoals. Here are our preliminary thoughts for each:

Lasting Special Places

The condition or protection of locations that hold particular value for aesthetic, spiritual, cultural, recreational, or existence reasons. This subgoal combines elements of Coastal Protection and Coastal Culture, since special places are both culturally significant and ecologically valuable.

First, the “special places” need to be identified. Based on this meeting, here is a preliminary list:

  • Iconic landmarks and public spaces
  • Concessions
    • Government-led concessions (e.g., acuerdos de destino)
    • Community-led concessions (fishing refuges, cooperative fishing concessions/TURFs)
    • Indigenous territorial rights (as raised by VĂ­ctor: Seri, Yaqui, Cucapá)
  • Special habitats protected by normas or leys
  • Areas where restoration projects or large movements are taking place — the idea being that places with strong community mobilization likely reflect a high sense of belonging.
  • The spatial coverage of NGO involvement and capacity in marine and coastal areas.

The OHI Core Team thinks it would be best to have a meeting devoted to identifying both cultural and ecological special places in the Gulf, so that areas that are important but not yet protected or well-managed can be highlighted by this goal. A follow-up meeting may then be needed to discuss each special place’s condition or level of protection.

Iconic Species

The condition of iconic species that are relevant to local cultural identity.

Typically, this subgoal starts by first creating a list of the iconic species and identifying which regions they belong to. Stock or local assessments (such as the N-gen long-term study of species and their trends) can then be used to evaluate their condition.

For each region, the average status of all iconic species can be calculated. The reference point could then be defined as maintaining or improving the condition of these species in each region over time.

We will discuss this more in Meeting #3. In the meantime, if you have any ideas, please send an email to me or place them in the SB Goalkeeper Idea document.

Community Involvement

The number and vitality of educational programs, cultural organizations, cultural events, and activism campaigns all demonstrate collective action and stewardship capacity in each region. Together, these can serve as indicators of community involvement.

This subgoal could incorporate Coastal Access as a multiplier: even with strong activism and programs, limited access to the coast weakens people’s ability to connect with marine and coastal areas.

Although we are not yet focusing on pressures and resiliences, the OHI Core Team noted that immigration and emigration dynamics, as raised by Amy Hudson Weaver, could act as an important pressure on the Sense of Belonging goal.

Next steps

More topics to think about before our next meeting:

  • What should the subgoals be? Are they of equal importance?
  • If we include Lasting Special Places (LSP), how do we measure the protection levels of special areas that are not legally protected areas?
  • What are the special areas for LSP?
  • What are the iconic species in the Gulf of California?
  • What are indicators for the condition of community involvement in the Gulf?
  • What are potential reference points for the subgoals within the Sense of Belonging goal?

Thank you all and see you next meeting (see the SB Goalkeeper Group Information: who, what, when, where, why! tab at the top of the page for more information)!

Thank you for joining our third Sense of Place (SP) Goalkeeper meeting!
This meeting focused on refining the SP goal’s definition and the name of the goal, finalizing how subgoals will be organized, and deepening the connection between indicators and the Gulf of California’s health.

A key item discussed this meeting was the use of terminology in both English and Spanish. The group affirmed that Sense of Place would be retained for the English goal name to maintain alignment with global Ocean Health Index frameworks and definitions in literature, and to avoid confusion with the U.S.-centric meaning of “belonging.” For the Spanish goal name, everyone agreed on using Sentido de Pertenencia instead of Sentido de Lugar or Sentido de pertenencia geográfica, to capture the broader cultural, emotional, and cosmological ties present throughout México, where belonging reflects not just geography but a deep-rooted sense of identity and community inclusion with the environment.

We began by reaffirming and clarifying the objective for the Sense of Place / Sentido de Pertenencia goal:

The objective of the Sense of Belonging/Place goal is to determine how well we are sustainably caring for the marine regions that provide heritage, shared memories, and identity, and to promote the connections between the Gulf of California and local communities, including pueblos originarios.

Four key subgoals were discussed and refined, focusing on what best indicates a maintained connection to the ocean in the Gulf’s communities:

  • Iconic Species (ICO)
    Assessment of species central to regional cultural identity, encompassing traditional, aesthetic, spiritual, and tourism value. The group debated including only non-commercial species and decided that a clear list will be compiled, with regional distinctions noted. The risk status of these species will be tracked using authoritative sources NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010 and/or conservation databases.

  • Lasting Special Places (LSP)
    Identification of locations in Gulf of California with cultural, spiritual, recreational, or ecological significance—these are both formally protected areas and locally recognized sites important to community identity. While we need to discuss this as a group, their condition could be determined based on how well those special places are managed to mitigate pressures that might decrease their ability to be a lasting special place. A dedicated follow-up meeting will map out which places should be tracked and how their condition is measured.

  • Coastal Community Engagement (CCE)
    Evaluation of how strongly communities engage with the ocean through cultural centers, festivals, and possibly educational programs and activism. The OHI Core Team is currently engaging in extensive internal discussions and considering diverse approaches for meaningfully incorporating pueblos originarios and their unique coastal traditions into this subgoal, with further perspectives to be sought from the larger group at the next meeting.

  • Coastal Access (CA)
    This indicator was discussed as a possible stand-alone or as part of CCE, with consensus that communities need physical access to fully participate in marine stewardship. The integration of CA into the SP goal will be revisited once the Artisanal Opportunities goal is more solidified.

Discussion Highlights

  • The group emphasized the importance of reflecting the connection that pueblos originarios have with the ocean, possibly considering unique indicators such as rights-based land or sea concessions and Indigenous languages retention, when tied to marine traditions.
  • Immigration, emigration, and demographic shifts were raised as pressures affecting Sentido de Pertenencia, though the team agreed their relevance should be carefully contextualized to marine connection rather than applied broadly.
  • We will need to work as a group to define the Gulf’s lasting special places, and iconic species, as soon as possible.

Immediate Next Steps

After October 28th, I will assume that the lists are complete and move forward on those subgoals.

Before the next meeting, please reflect on what reference points and benchmarks will define “success” within each subgoal, if possible!

Thank you for your engagement, see you next meeting on November 11th!

Stay tuned for Meeting #4 resources.

Additional Insights & Examples

These are some of the points discussed by the Expert Working Group (EWG).

Proposed iconic species

Some species mentioned within the meeting:

  • Almejas chocolata
  • Yellowtail
  • Swordfish
  • Dorado (Mahi-Mahi)
  • Roosterfish
  • Totoaba
  • Shrimp
  • Pajaritos fish
  • Whale sharks
  • Sea lions
  • Vaquita
  • Saguaro cactus
  • La Tijereta (Magnificent Frigatebird)

Proposed proxies for LSP

Some proxies mentioned included actions that indicate community involvement:

  • Activism and campaigns: Territory defense movements, environmental campaigns
  • Environmental defenders: Documentation of people killed defending areas
  • Legal documentation: Human rights activism records
  • Territorial rights: Indigenous territorial rights, cooperative concessions

As well as physical places that are associated with cultural connections:

  • Protection status: Local/state/federal protection levels (positive or negative impact)
  • Public spaces: Malecones (waterfront promenades), miradores (viewpoints)
  • Traditional activities: Cooperative fishing, diving areas
  • Educational programs: Environmental education initiatives
  • Cultural heritage: Islands with cultural significance

The EWG noted that a bottom-up approach is needed! This is because:

  • Sense of belonging varies between communities
  • Gulf of California differs significantly from US contexts
  • Local definitions of “enjoyment” and “special places” should not be prescribed

Contact via email:

OHI Core Analytical Team Sense of Belonging Goalkeeper Group