The European COST Action “Ocean Governance for Sustainability – Challenges, Options and the Role of Science” (CA15217) gathered from for the final and virtual “Conference on Ocean Governance: Action insights and foreshadowing challenges.”

Date: Thursday-Friday, 19–20 November, 2020

Hosted jointly by the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) and the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), in cooperation with the European network funding programme “Cooperation of Science and Technology” (COST), these keynotes frame a series of panels brought together contributions from the six working groups composing the COST Action OceanGov to reflect on the EU’s ocean agenda over the past years, as well as addressing new topics in academic scholarship and policy-making on ocean governance in the European context.

Researchers and policy makers from more than 29 countries, including WorldFish’s Principal Scientist, Eddie Allison, and other high-level experts to reflect on the last four years of the Action and to discuss new developing topics and upcoming challenges to the future of our oceans through a series of scientific panels, ranging from more thematically oriented panels derived from the working groups of the network to panels tackling arising ocean governance challenges (e.g. sustainable Blue Economy, the development of integrative regional approaches and strategies, Marine Emerging Infectious Diseases). 

The conference also explored the governance of the oceans from multiple approaches and varied disciplinary traditions, illustrating empirical and/or conceptual contributions around Europe and beyond.

Invited speakers and panel topic:

  • Eddie Allison, Principal Scientist, WorldFish - “Equity and Justice in the Blue Economy”
  • Yoshitaka Ota, Director Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus, University of Washington - “Ocean Equity: why should we care?
  • Kristina Gjerde, Senior High Seas Policy Advisor for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Marine and Polar Program - “Advancing towards effective and equitable governance of the global ocean beyond national boundaries: progress, prospects and next steps”

Closing remarks:

  • Anna-Katharina Hornidge, Director of DIE and Chair of the Action, and Dr. César Giraldo Herrera, Scientific Coordinator of the Conference (ZMT and Institute for Science Innovation and Society (InSIS), University of Oxford).

For more information, visit the official event page. To check out and download the event program, click here.