22 Jul When Science Is Painted on the Sea Walls: Art as a Driver of Coastal Justice in Chile
In Chile’s Gulf of Arauco—shaped by the scars of extractive forestry and seismic memory—a groundbreaking project by the Millennium Institute for Coastal Socio-Ecology (SECOS) is redefining the boundaries of research and social action. Scientists and artists, in close collaboration with coastal communities, have found in collaborative murals, participatory mapping, and virtual reality not only powerful tools of communication but also research methodologies in their own right—capable of catalyzing the recognition of injustice, fostering territorial transformation, and mobilizing collective action toward more equitable and resilient futures.
At the heart of Chile’s Biobío region, the community of Tubul has become a living laboratory for an unprecedented symbiosis between scientific rigor and artistic expression. What began as an academic inquiry into blue justice—a conceptual framework that seeks social and ecological equity in complex coastal and marine systems—found in muralism a surprising channel for deeper engagement and resonance. Far from merely illustrating scientific findings, the murals now adorning Brisas del Mar School have become spaces of dialogue, visual archives of collective memory, and, fundamentally, catalysts for participatory research processes with profound territorial impact.
This innovative methodological approach stems from the complex socio-ecological issues affecting the Gulf of Arauco. On one hand, the expansion of the forestry industry—dominated by large pine and eucalyptus plantations—has degraded ecosystems, depleted water sources, and increased the risk of fires. On the other hand, the devastating 2010 earthquake and tsunami drastically reshaped the coastal geography and disrupted traditional livelihoods such as the harvesting of pelillo seaweed, particularly impacting women gatherers.
Rather than being forgotten, these experiences of loss and transformation have fueled a transdisciplinary research process by SECOS designed from the outset to challenge conventional forms of knowledge production. The results were recently published in the journal Ecology and Society. Faced with a highly complex socio-environmental scenario, the SECOS team integrated four interconnected methodological approaches: trust-building (rapport), semi-structured interviews, participatory mapping, and co-creative muralism.
Steven Mons, a SECOS researcher and co-author of the study, highlights the uniqueness of this methodological fusion: “These methods have been used in other research, but usually separately. We chose to integrate them because it allowed us to include a wide range of knowledge systems and territorial experiences, helping us better understand the socio-ecological links in the southern Gulf of Arauco through transdisciplinary collaboration. Empowering coastal communities through participatory methods is key to co-producing knowledge that is relevant to place.”
Mons adds that this form of research is “iterative, reflective, and reciprocal, strengthening the legitimacy of the process and its outcomes.” Still, he acknowledges the challenges of data analysis, visualization, and organization, as well as the need for long-term territorial engagement to build trust and co-create the methodology—something that sets it apart from traditional science: “It’s a bit slower and more demanding, but deeply rewarding because it centers on ongoing dialogue among local, scientific, and artistic knowledge.”
The participatory mapping workshops brought together a diverse range of actors: community leaders, artisanal fishers, women seaweed gatherers, and Indigenous representatives. Using satellite images, participants traced their lived experiences: areas affected by drought, pollution hotspots, sacred sites, and threatened ecosystems. The resulting maps not only provided valuable spatial data but also helped visualize patterns of injustice and create a shared language among people with different backgrounds and expertise.
Two Open Wounds: Monocultures and Seismic Disaster
The muralism initiative—called Tiempos de Muralismo (Times of Muralism)—began in 2018 and has developed over the long term with six coastal communities. Creating a mural is an iterative process that requires months of preparation, including field visits, ongoing dialogue, collecting photographs and references, and incorporating drawings and ideas from local children. Its connection with the coastal development group and community mapping efforts marked a turning point in its integration with science. In Tubul, during eight intense days, artists, scientists, children, gatherers, teachers, and fishers came together before a large blank wall.
Through conversations, sketches, and shared brushstrokes, they constructed a visual narrative reflecting both past wounds and future aspirations. For Fernanda Oyarzún, SECOS artist and researcher, the act of painting opened a unique space for storytelling: “The kind of storytelling that emerges from having time and being heard is very different from mapping or interviews. When you paint, people come close and share knowledge and memories in a relaxed setting, where the conversation materializes on the wall, with participants pointing out details and making corrections.”
In the Gulf of Arauco, the transformation of the coastal landscape by the extractive forestry model emerged as one of the most cited socio-ecological injustices. The spread of pine and eucalyptus monocultures has dried up estuaries and affected drinking water supplies in places like Punta Lavapié. It’s also associated with increased fire risk and pollution, generating a sense of constant threat. Despite this, communities have resisted by legally protecting wetlands and monitoring industrial activities, defending the ecological and cultural value of their territory.
The second major axis of injustice is linked to the 2010 earthquake and tsunami, which altered both the ecology and social fabric of the coast. The tectonic uplift drained key wetlands like Tubul-Raqui, affecting the cultivation of pelillo, a vital community livelihood, especially for women. This loss went beyond the material—it disrupted a collective practice rooted in social bonds and mutual support. Stories shared and reflected in the murals highlight a social memory marked by catastrophe and a nostalgic appreciation for a way of life now disrupted.
Art, Recognition, Collective Action, and the Pursuit of Blue Justice
Alonso Salazar, an artist collaborating on the project, underscores the dynamic nature of the creative process: “As artists, we started with a basic design that evolved through interaction. Stories about the tsunami, shared in a spirit of camaraderie, transformed our initial sketches into deep representations of community resilience. It’s hard to describe how such a diverse group creates a work with a shared soul—every brushstroke and every story becomes part of it.” Salazar emphasizes the importance of territorial immersion, revealing how “being there uncovers essential details and customs, like the clever tools used to harvest navajuelas [razor clams], which we painted on the wall as symbols of local wisdom. We need the knowledge of the residents, the insights of scientists turned painters, and the spontaneity of children to tell Tubul’s story on its walls.”
In this context, blue justice emerges as a concept that goes beyond achieving social and ecological equity in coastal systems. It means deeply validating the experiences, emotions, and knowledge of communities as fundamental pillars. Fernanda Oyarzún notes that in Tubul, the pain of the tsunami still lingers—a wound encompassing the loss of emotional and territorial ties, the unraveling of social fabric, and distress over environmental degradation, a feeling known as solastalgia. “The arts have the potential to create space for all of this—for emotions, memories, trauma, but also the wealth of embedded knowledge,” she says. “Artistic practices can nourish spaces that help us reframe, honor, hold, question, generate dialogue… it’s a bridge, an invitation, a doorway to begin thinking about sustainable development as something integrated and rooted in human experience. And that’s what we need for real change.”
Steven Mons reinforces this vision, explaining that integrating science, art, and territory allows for a deeper understanding of how injustices persist in coastal socio-ecological systems. This approach democratizes scientific practice and grounds it in the real concerns of communities. In this sense, maps and murals function both as tools of representation and as participatory processes, weaving together local, ancestral, and scientific knowledge. Mons defines blue justice as “the pursuit of social and ecological justice in coastal socio-ecological systems, closely tied to coastal sustainability.” Participatory mapping addresses many of the negative dimensions of blue justice, such as injustice and vulnerability, while co-creative muralism highlights the positives: places of social and ecological value, community organization, adaptation strategies, and traditional practices. This methodological complementarity—supported by interviews—offers a promising approach to tackling blue justice in diverse geographical contexts, as long as it is co-developed with communities and adapted to each territory’s specific realities.
On the walls of Brisas del Mar School, science and art have come together to give voice to a resilient community. The SECOS project in the Gulf of Arauco has not only documented socio-ecological injustices through innovative participatory methods—it has shown how art, particularly co-creative muralism, can serve as a powerful tool for research, recognition, and collective action. By uniting the experiences, knowledge, and hopes of Tubul’s inhabitants, the project has painted a path toward a future where blue justice is no longer just an aspiration, but a tangible reality built on memory, collaboration, and a deep connection to place. This pioneering approach offers a valuable lesson for other coastal communities facing similar challenges: when science is intertwined with creativity and civic participation, new and promising pathways open for social and ecological transformation.