Two coordination projects funded by the European Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme - MARINA and ResponSEAble - joined forces again for their final event. The ocean dialogues at the science-policy-society interface convened 18-19 March 2019 in Brussels were intended to draw together findings, showcasing educational tools in support of Ocean Literacy (OL) and promote responsible research and innovation (RRI) for effective ocean governance. Four topics were discussed in some depth and networking was rife.
The coordinators of the two projects opened the event with some background of their project, the networking and the challenges encountered during the three years of their research coordination work. To increase Ocean Literacy among the general public had been one of their concerns. This being a major focus of the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of Unesco, it was no surprise that the IOC had been an active participant throughout the projects and beyond. In parallel to the subsequent break-up into working groups, young professionals convened their own workshop.
The workshops focused on four topics:
- Food from the sea
- Marine litter
- Maritime transport
- Sustainable coastal tourism
The workshop food from the sea featured a representative of EUROPECHE (larger fishing interests), WWF and research into how fisheries impact marine ecosystems with an example from the Irish Sea.
All speakers underlined the importance of healthy fish stocks and fisheries, but Anne-Cecile Dragon of WWF confronted the gap between the intentions of the letter of the reformed European Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the modest or weak implementation by European Member States.
The discussion, in which Mundus maris participants engaged very actively, also allowed to go a bit further in highlighting the threats to the policy's legitimacy and implementation provoked by large numbers of exceptions and exemptions, e.g. of the landing obligation of species discarded earlier and, of course, the national ministers' continued disregard for much of the scientific advice that prevented faster recovery of overfished stocks.
An example of how fishers can be drawn into active participation of building ecosystem models and explore options for rebuilding and sustainable use gave hope inmidst of looming challenges.
Participants converged in the direction of developing as much positive messaging as possible in order to rebuild trust between the different professional groups, civil society and conservation organisations and public authorities as a precondition for faster improvements.
The workshop on marine litter shared its focus on the need for a circular economy with the plenary so that waste production becomes the exception. Among the take-home messages were:
- approaches to avoid marine litter require specific strategies: no one size fits all
- focus on local conditions and process need customised scientific and practical knowledge for successful applications
- new product design is important
- innovation is needed to generate alternative action, EU initiatives to curb plastic and the UN Research Decade for sustainable Ocean development could serve as levers
- key to success will be arenas for open dialogue and co-design, cooperation and knowledge sharing, setting up open spaces for exchange.
The workshop on maritime transportation had to cover a wide array of challenges as it is the backbone of globalised markets and a huge increase of capacity in recent decades. In the event it had focused on ballast water given the limited time avalable. Ship owners, handlers, port authorities and others needed easier access to scientific results. Demand was large for knowledge about marine species surviving criss-crossing ocean basins in the huge ballast water volumes of large container ships or bulk carriers.
Examples abound where their release has allows exotic species to establish viable populations where they had not previously existed, often turning into a nuisance. The damage can exceed billions of Euros. Policy makers in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) also needed to account for economic and other aspects and device regulations with port authorities which have good potential to being enacted.
Fair cost sharing remains an issue. Open access to information is a helpful step for better management.
The participants of the workshop on sustainable coastal tourism challenged the plenary to reflect on what that could be in the light of a still expanding multi-billion Euro industry. They cautioned that the demand for sustainability would take different articulation in relation to elite and mass tourism forms. While a lot of knowledge was already available - though many aspects would benefit from more research - change for the better was not yet forthcoming in any significant way.
Tangible change would be easier to bring about with a systems approach and a governance system with a mix of incentives and regulations. The blue economy mantra was not believed to help sustainability unless social and environmental concerns were integrated in a very strong way.
The feedback into the plenary showed a pattern of recognising that good science was indispensible, but not sufficient to provoke change. The courage required for such change can be helped by developing new narratives and by pitching messages carefully to different audiences. Social media were seen as both a threat and an opportunity. Prime movers can be role models to accelerate change.