Abstract
Collecting social and economic data is necessary to anticipate these effects, and to develop and appropriately site marine energy projects that suitably address community needs, incorporate and address community values, and satisfy consenting requirements. Despite the importance of this information, consistent methodology for social and economic data collection to inform marine energy development is lacking. There is little documentation from past projects, and if documentation exists, it is not often clear how the social and economic data have been collected or analyzed. We review the literature from marine energy, other renewable energy industries, and relevant coastal sectors to identify common metrics, methods, and applicable tools for collecting data on social and economic effects. From this, we synthesize our findings and identify lessons learned that will form the foundations of a methods toolkit and template for data collection. This literature review and the eventual development of the toolkit will enable marine energy projects to identify and understand potential negative effects at the forefront and aid in avoiding or mitigating these impacts.