PERSPECTIVE published: 18 January 2021 doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.600403 Edited by: Christopher Cvitanovic, Australian National University, Australia Reviewed by: Éva Plagányi, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia Andrew M. Fischer, University of Tasmania, Australia *Correspondence: Maricela de la Torre-Castro maricela@natgeo.su.se Romeo Saldívar-Lucio rsaldivar@cicese.edu.mx Specialty section: This article was submitted to Marine Conservation and Sustainability, a section of the journal Frontiers in Marine Science Received: 29 August 2020 Accepted: 07 December 2020 Published: 18 January 2021 Citation: Saldívar-Lucio R, Trasviña-Castro A, Jiddawi N, Chuenpagdee R, Lindström L, Jentoft S, Fraga J and de la Torre-Castro M (2021) Fine-Tuning Climate Resilience in Marine Socio-Ecological Systems: The Need for Accurate Space-Time Representativeness to Identify Relevant Consequences and Responses. Front. Mar. Sci. 7:600403. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.600403 Fine-Tuning Climate Resilience in Marine Socio-Ecological Systems: The Need for Accurate Space-Time Representativeness to Identify Relevant Consequences and Responses Romeo Saldívar-Lucio 1 * , Armando Trasviña-Castro 2 , Narriman Jiddawi 3 , Ratana Chuenpagdee 4 , Lars Lindström 5 , Svein Jentoft 6 , Julia Fraga 7 and Maricela de la Torre-Castro 8 * 1 CONACYT-Centro de Investigación Científica y Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE Unidad La Paz), La Paz, Mexico, 2 CICESE Unidad La Paz, La Paz, Mexico, 3 Institute of Fisheries Research, Zanzibar, Tanzania, 4 Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada, 5 Department of Political Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden, 6 The Norwegian College of Fishery Science, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway, 7 Departamento de Ecología Humana, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados, Mérida, Mexico, 8 Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden Climate change triggers a wide mosaic of regional and local responses, often different to the large-scale variability in magnitude and direction. Because of the psychological connections (cognitive and emotional) with the frequency, intensity and age of a climatic event, people may have the capacity to recognize key variations at lower scales, especially those from which they perceive risk. Yet, the anticipatory actions and social engagement to respond or adapt to climate change are difficult to achieve, mostly when there exists a long psychological distance to climatic phenomena. Research about climate change communication provides clues about the relevance of place- based discussion to gauge risk perception and improve response protocols, their design and prioritization. It argues that strategies and actions required to face climate risks may widely differ depending on the scale and accuracy of the local representations displayed during discussions of climate impacts. This work examines how local attributes (from climate to social) operate and control place-specific risks and priorities, by comparing coastal communities in two locations, Cabo Pulmo, Mexico and Zanzibar, Tanzania, which are subject to different climate dynamics. This paper discusses the need to identify relevant climate risks/responses at the local level and how psycho-social factors (e.g., psychological distance, collective memory, and social engagement) may operate positively for building climate resilience. We also illustrate a workflow to increase and enhance collaboration between researchers and local people by promoting dialogue, participation and narratives that rigorously consider the local knowledge. Keywords: socio-ecological resilience, risk perception, climate adaptation, climate risk, coastal communities, adaptive capacity, anticipatory governance Frontiers in Marine Science | www.frontiersin.org 1 January 2021 | Volume 7 | Article 600403