O OCEANO QUE PRECISAMOS PARA O FUTURO QUE QUEREMOS Este é o slogan usado pelas Nações Unidas (ONU) para sensibilização em campanha da Década da ONU de Ciência Oceânica para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável, também co- nhecida como Década do Oceano. Você já ou- viu falar? A Década foi declarada pelas Nações Unidas em 2017 e está sendo implementada de 2021 até 2030, com o objetivo de ser um período que deixe o assunto sempre em evidência, ga- rantindo que a ciência oceânica possa apoiar os países na implementação da Agenda 2030 para o desenvolvimento sustentável. Sabe quando os profissionais da escola se únem antes do início das aulas (o famoso pla- nejamento anual), para fazer uma espécie de intensivão para alinhar as metas, estratégias e “deixar a casa em ordem”? É basicamente para isso que foi instituída a Década do Oceano, resumindo de forma bem simples. É um jeito simbólico de incentivar que toda a sociedade se una, durante dez anos, para promover a conservação do oceano e a gestão dos recursos naturais de zonas costeiras. Dessa forma, o planeta pode atingir os Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS). À primeira vista, isso tudo pode parecer um tema muito complexo e de competência ape- nas de governos e cúpulas internacionais. Mas, enquanto as decisões são tomadas em escala global, é no local, na nossa prática, que as ações tomam vida. As pequenas ações do cotidiano podem fazer uma grande diferença, especialmente quando falamos do ambien- te escolar, um dos espaços mais importantes para formar gerações de cidadãos e transfor- mar o mundo em um lugar melhor, não acha? Este ebook traz, resumidamente, um guia dos primeiros passos a se dar para incentivar a cul- tura oceânica na sua escola, dando uma mão para você e sua comunidade fazerem parte desse movimento.

The All-Atlantic Blue Schools Network (AA-BSN) is a remarkable network implemented under the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance. It has really embraced the spirit of this science diplomacy process: Connect, Act and Collaborate. It started from an idea back in 2019 when several Ocean Literacy experts from along and across the Atlantic Ocean got together in scope of the AANChOR project, funded to implement the Belem Statement. It builds on the experience of the Blue School in Portugal and the AAORA Working Group on Ocean Literacy in scope of the Galway Statement. With 16 Atlantic countries engaged (as of January 2023), 28 National coordinators from 18 institutions, 455 schools reached, 125 178 students and 3 458 teachers engaged it is truly an example of the desire of the All-Atlantic Ocean Literacy community to get together, to effectively act through a very specific collaboration opportunity and to impact tomorrow’s generation! By connecting schools from Atlantic countries to raise and promote ocean literacy and society awareness AA-BSN is contributing to European, National and International strategies. The bottom-up process where each school builds its own project based on its socio-cultural-economic reality is, in my opinion, the basis for the success of AA-BSN. And imagine… all that was possible in less than two years and with a pandemic period in between. AA-BSN is really an inspiring joint activity from the Atlantic Ocean Literacy community! Congratulation to all the team and those engaged. Well done!

In the second video (2/6) of the series, Prof. Dr. Andree Kirchner (ISRIM) explains the historical background of the initiative and the negotiation processes, which lead to the adoption of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) on 19 June 2023 in New York. The presentation is part of the workshop "Conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ)", which took place in the framework of the 9th Summer School on the European Union and the Law of the Sea (EULoS). It was organized by the Institute for the Law of the Sea and International Marine Environmental Law (ISRIM) and the University of Genoa on 1 September 2023. The workshop is a UN Ocean Decade Activity.

Plastic, a material often regarded as one of the biggest threats to the environment, has become so ingrained in our lives that we find it almost everywhere, ranging from something as small as a toothbrush to massive containers. In fact, this subject has gained so much prevalence that no science lectures in schools are complete without discussing the detrimental effects of plastic, which have become so deeply embedded in our brains that the moment I hear plastic, I see an ambulance siren wailing, screaming at the top of its lungs, “PLASTIC IS BAD, STAY AWAY”.

This Technical Appendix has been written as a companion to the Ocean Impact Navigator: A New Impact Measurement Framework for the Ocean Innovation Ecosystem. It provides further details on the KPIs proposed within the Navigator framework. At the time of publication in June 2022, the Navigator has not yet been finalised, but is embarking on a period of testing, feedback and refinement that is expected to culminate in the launch of an online tool at the end of the year. It is in this spirit of soliciting feedback from the ocean impact and innovation community that this Appendix is published, as we hope that it will enable interested members of the community to review and provide more nuanced and detailed comments on the proposed framework. It is expected both that the set of KPIs elaborated in this Appendix will be revised in the coming months, and that the detailed guidance outlined in this Appendix will also be refined, based on the feedback that is received. It is also hoped that Navigator users – both now and in the future, will find this a practical tool to support implementation of the framework for their own impact measurement.

UN Decade of Ocean Sciences, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and forthcoming conservation issues, a new global framework for biodiversity resulting from COP15 negotiations, public engagement sessions and much more, but which kind of goals are we really going to pursue? The latest initiatives, supported also by the Spanish National Agency in the framework of an Erasmus+ initiative, are part of the personally promoted project “FINS INTO THE WATER OCEAN LITERACY INTO PRACTICE”. At first this initiative has been set on a voluntary basis, subsequently, the engagement of other partners at national level and across Europe, sharing some working goals also within the EMSEA Med regional working group and with some of the leading representatives of SCUBA diving sector (teaching agencies and private sector professionals), made possible the development of teaching resources in order to significantly contribute to the aforementioned gap filling. Despite some formal hostilities occurred over the years from institutional representatives toward some field-engaged professionals, there is a great willingness among these people to be actively engaged in conservation goals concerning their daily working environment. This contribution is a tangible proof of this shared attitude and highlights the need to address properly conceived multidisciplinary educational sessions [1;2;3;4;5]. According to FAIR data principles all the observations and field data obtained so far will be publicly shared within the next few months even on other digital platforms, in order to contribute to the baseline research and ameliorate the upcoming steps necessary to successfully fulfill marine conservation and coastal management duties.

In 2020, the Blue Climate Initiative engaged with sixty multidisciplinary scientists and academic experts to identify the most promising Transformational Opportunities (TOPS) to address climate change using the power of the ocean, while serving humanity’s needs. Their insights are published in six thematic papers centered on food and nutrition, marine energy and transportation, biodiversity and nature-based solutions, mineral and genetic resources, health and well-being, and sustainable tourism. This Compendium presents over forty such TOPS that can sustain Earth’s people, steward our ocean, and heal our planet.

The Draft CSK-2 Data and Information Management Plan (DIMP) was prepared by the CSK-2 Task Force on Data and Information Management Plan, which was formed as per the decision of the CSK-2 International Steering Group at its first meeting (virtual, 8 December 2021).

The United Nations has declared that the Ocean Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (the Ocean Decade) will take place from 2021 to 2030. The vision of the Ocean Decade is ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’, and it provides a common framework for diverse stakeholders to generate and use ocean knowledge towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To that end, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (IOC-UNESCO) was mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to develop an Implementation Plan, in collaboration with partners, to serve as a roadmap to mobilize the resources and technological innovation needed to build capacity, develop scientific knowledge, create and share infrastructure and foster partnerships for a healthy ocean. In so doing, the Ocean Decade will transition us from the ‘ocean we have’ to the ‘ocean we want’. The latter will support a sustainable, equitable and healthy future for all. The Implementation Plan, which is the culmination of a highly participatory three-year process, has now been finalized and is a non-prescriptive, strategic framework for the roll-out of the Ocean Decade that details its objectives, challenges, actions and mechanisms for implementation. The enhancement of Ocean Literacy (OL) is critical to the success of the Ocean Decade. Ocean Literacy refers to the understanding of the ocean’s influence on us and our influence on the ocean. Many people are unaware that the ocean is intrinsically linked to major global issues such as climate change and food security, human health and the global economy. The ocean also represents a range of social values for various cultures, as people from all over the world are able to recognize and relate to the ocean in different ways. To achieve sustainable development and well-being across the globe, everyone needs to understand our dependence on the ocean, and how we can contribute to its sustainability. In this context, Ocean Literacy has a twofold goal: to learn more about the world’s ocean, and to contribute to the co-design and co-delivery of solutions to the problems and threats it faces. In this way, Ocean Literacy becomes more than a tool for capacity development and knowledge generation. It also represents an ambitious approach to promoting the common understanding of global citizens as stakeholders, as well as furthering societies’ relationships to the ocean. Understanding the value of the ocean can enhance protection, conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources, as well as contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Throughout the Ocean Decade planning process, the importance of Ocean Literacy was reinforced during Global and Regional Planning Workshops (IOC-UNESCO, 2020). As a result, Ocean Literacy features prominently in the Implementation Plan and is reflected as one of the seven Ocean Decade Outcomes, ‘An engaging and inspiring ocean’. It is also explicitly referenced in the following two of the Ocean Decade Challenges that represent the most pressing priorities for the Decade: - Challenge 9: Ensure comprehensive capacity development and equitable access to data, information, knowledge and technology across all aspects of ocean science and for all stakeholders, and - Challenge 10: Ensure that the multiple values and services of the ocean for human well-being, culture and sustainable development are widely understood, and identify and overcome barriers to behaviour change required for a step change in humanity’s relationship with the ocean. Ocean Literacy is also relevant to the remaining eight Ocean Decade Challenges, as it is a tool that encompasses cross-sectoral, inter-and transdisciplinary approaches that can empower governments, businesses, the media, educators, civil society and the general public to understand the key role the ocean plays within their lives. Ocean Literacy can therefore create an environment conducive to achieving the ambitions of the Ocean Decade, including helping to ignite behaviour change, enhance collaborations, mobilize resources, promote sound policy-making, spark creativity and innovation and increase investment in ocean science. Ocean Literacy is radically evolving from its application in formal educational contexts into an approach for society as a whole that catalyses actions to protect, conserve and sustainably use the ocean. As such, Ocean Literacy initiatives can be implemented in formal or non-formal educational settings and can be part of school learning, citizen science, corporate training, public-awareness campaigns, the science–policy interface and so forth. Throughout the Ocean Decade, Ocean Literacy initiatives will be developed and implemented by actors including governments, United Nations entities, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), international and regional organizations, research institutes, businesses, foundations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), schools, educators, community groups and individuals. To date, a significant number of Ocean Literacy initiatives have been developed and implemented in every corner of the world. They range from educational programmes focusing on ocean issues (Blue Schools in Portugal or Ocean School in Canada), to Ocean Literacy centres promoting hands-on activities (see the Marine Educational Centre in Malmö) and company-funded education programmes for students (see AXA XL Ocean Education programme ), as well as public-awareness campaigns (see the European Union’s Sea Change project ) and immersive learning programmes at aquariums. The Ocean Decade provides a powerful and unique opportunity to catalyse and scale up these and other Ocean Literacy programmes at the global level. As outlined in the Implementation Plan, the vision for Ocean Literacy throughout the Ocean Decade is ‘to enable and scale up action in all sectors’. This Ocean Literacy Framework for Action was created to complement the Implementation Plan and provide a succinct, non-prescriptive framework to promote the development of global, regional, national and local Ocean Literacy Actions by diverse actors around the world as part of the Ocean Decade. This Framework was developed through a series of stakeholder consultations, including an open international questionnaire with over 300 respondents, a participatory multi-stakeholder workshop held in Venice in December 2019, a bibliographical review and peer review by international experts. This document is divided into three sections. The first one describes Ocean Literacy and its potential contribution to the Ocean Decade. The second one presents a framework for the Decade Actions on Ocean Literacy. The third section outlines the participation opportunities for potential partners and stakeholders, as well as the linkages between existing Ocean Literacy tools and participation mechanisms for Ocean Decade stakeholders.