Mundus maris attracts interest at the Open Science Conference, Brest, 17-21 June

The IMBeR Open Science Conference Future Ocean 2 in Brest from 17 to 21 June 2019 brought together scientists and students from many different fields of research around the challenge of "Ocean sustainability for the benefit of society: understanding, challenges, and solutions". More than 300 female and 270 male registered participants representing 59 nationalities from 48 countries spent a week debating and sharing research results. Aliou Sall of Mundus maris was among the approximately 45% of participants with many years of experience.

altThe many parallel sessions, workshops and poster sessions were organised according to three themes:

  • Theme 1. Understanding and quantifying the state and variability of marine ecosystems;
  • Theme 2. Improving scenarios, predictions and projections of future ocean-human systems at multiple scales; and
  • Theme 3. Improving and achieving sustainable ocean governance.

​​​​​​​Aliou's attendance has been partially sponsored to present results titled "How to bridge the gap between the scientific community and indigenous knowledge bearers: Opportunities for marine policy and practice". Dealing with the topic as a poster on display for a full day gave excellent opportunities to interact with other participants interested in the topic, more than would probably have been feasible by a short oral presentation. The practical experience of the small-scale fishing academy as a neutral and safe dialogue space, indispensable for an uncomplicated exchange between these two worlds, was explained and shared with the participants who came to visit our stand. The time spent in front of the stand and engaged in conversation about the contents was a clear indicator for the interest aroused in a number of participants.

The example of Prof. em. Hong Sun Yung from Pukyong National University illustrates the case. Not only did he visit twice, but took the time to learn more about the idea of ​​the small-scale fisheries academy. He wanted to learn especially what we intend to do in the future as he was intrigued by the innovative concept which made him curious despite his life-long professional experience. The professor is convinced that despite its early development stage the concept is of interest to the people we works with in Korea.

He appreciated that the academy can support the implementation of the Guidelines for ensuring sustainable small-scale fisheries adopted in 2014 by FAO's Committee of Fisheries (COFI) and the role inclusive communication and participatory working methods play in engaging SSF actors along the value chain. The good response to this contribution earned Aliou an invitation from the conference organizers to contribute a manuscript to a special issue of proceedings following the success of the 2019 conference edition. The poster can be seen here.

Get a flavour of the breadth of topics addressed at the conference by listening to the last keynote address delivered by Carol Robinson. The conference website with more information is here.