This dataset was collected to investigate the personal perspectives of 56 researchers who took part in the international, interdisciplinary GCRF Blue Communities project. Researchers at all career stages came from the UK and four Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines. One of the main goals of the project was to build mutual research capacity across research participants towards meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals and addressing challenges related to wellbeing, livelihoods and food security for coastal communities in the Southeast Asian countries. This dataset contains quantitative data, collected via an online survey, from a diverse group of researchers on the impact of the research capacity building activity in this project, which had taken the specific approach of ‘learning-by-doing’ to strengthen capacity.Seas and coasts and the nature that lives in them provide multiple services (e.g. farmed and wild capture protein-rich seafood for local consumption and sale, coastal flood and storm defences, tourism, leisure, marine renewable energy, transport and climate regulation) that can be exploited or are passively used to support local economies and the health and well-being of coastal communities. Yet, there is an increasing demand for ocean space resulting from expanding use of the marine environment, and a growing awareness that much of the marine environment is deteriorating. In response a need for marine planning (MP) has grown globally to ensure sustainable use of marine space and extraction of its resources. This is particularly evident in E and SE Asia, where conflicts over marine space and resources are growing, added to by pressures of population growth The capacity to implement MP throughout E and SE Asia is largely lacking and presents an overarching challenge: to improve the integrated management of marine and coastal environments to reduce conflict between users, mitigate risks associated with expanded or new uses, and protect fragile ecosystems while supporting livelihoods, food security, health and well-being of coastal communities. We will achieve this through collaborative international, interdisciplinary research, training and capacity building. Activities will focus on learning-by-doing among researchers, local stakeholders, and local communities to deliver research outcomes with potential for impact. We have five sub-challenges to address, aligning with three UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG1 no poverty; SDG2 zero hunger; and SDG3 good health and well-being): Challenge 1: Promote sustainable harvesting by reducing overexploitation of seafood and degradation of the environments, and promoting sustainable management of wild capture seafood and production of seafood through aquaculture. Challenge 2: Prepare for climate change by understanding its direct and indirect effects on coastal communities and anticipating and mitigating the impacts e.g. coastal wetlands, reefs and mangroves dampen the effects of flooding, storms and tsunamis; their management plays a key role on human wellbeing beyond being sources of food. Challenge 3: Promote good health: we aim to show how improved management of marine ecosystems may promote health and wellbeing benefits, including but not limited to food and nutrition, and reduce the health risks that arise from degraded and overexploited ecosystems. Challenge 4: Identify opportunities for future growth: improved management can provide additional, sustainable, opportunities for growth via technologies such as marine renewable energy. We will need to recognise and account for synergies and trade-offs among uses of the marine environment under MP. Challenge 5: Co-development and implementation of MP: marine plans need to be culturally-acceptable, facilitate growth of, and reduce risks to and conflicts among users of the marine environment, and simultaneously contribute to improving livelihoods, health and wellbeing and ensuring sustainable use of marine ecosystems. We will focus research, (and learning-by-doing), on case studies in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and China and marine protected areas in Malaysia. Ultimately this project will deliver economic, social, health and wellbeing and environmental benefits to coastal communities in SE Asia via co-development of local research capacity, stakeholder engagement, and application of contextually relevant tools for MP that will endure well beyond the four-year programme. We anticipate a future where people can rely on restored and more resilient marine ecosystems that can be used sustainably to support and improve livelihoods. Delivery of that objective will in turn create durable collaborations between academic and non-academic partners to deliver research with transformative impact.

Responses from the participants of the Blue Communities project were collected via an online survey. Participants were from academic institutions and non-governmental organisations and included researchers across career stages. Responses were collected at the end of the four year Blue Communities grant. The survey was written in the English language and consisted of questions in four parts: (1) demography, (2) individual research capacity, (3) team level research capacity (participant’s Blue Communities team at their own institution) and (4) institution level research capacity.