AAU-IFM, Innovative Fisheries Management, is a Research Centre at Aalborg University affiliated with the Department of Development and Planning under the Faculty of Engineering and Science. AAU-IFM specializes in social scientific research and advisory services in Blue Governance, fisheries and marine management, and coastal community development. AAU-IFM’s current research foci include i) marine governance; ii) co-management and stakeholder involvement in marine management; iii) the social and cultural aspects necessary for socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable development; iv) social impact assessments; and v) regional perspectives on governance and development. In its studies of governance and co-management in relation to fisheries and marine management systems AAU-IFM moves the concept of institutions beyond the classical institutional approaches in economics and political science to also including cultural and social structures acknowledging that institutions are dynamic and constantly changing.