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The United Nations Ocean Decade

The United Nations (UN) has designated 2021-30 as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

 

The Ocean Decade commenced in January 2021 and calls for a decade of participatory and innovative ocean science to meet global ocean and society sustainability objectives. With the launch of the UN Ocean Decade, comes a unique opportunity to launch a new era of ocean research  at the University of Edinburgh.

 

The Ocean Decade at the University of Edinburgh:

 

In January 2020, a multi-disciplinary discussion forum took place at the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (ECCI) to discuss and strategise opportunities for ocean researchers across the University of Edinburgh to contribute to the UN Ocean Decade. In total, 64 people from 16 departments and the St Abbs Marine Station registered for the discussions. Participants included students, early career researchers and senior academic staff, all working together to discuss how their research mapped onto the six societal goals of the UN Ocean Decade:

 

  1. A clean ocean where sources of pollution are identified and removed;  
  2. A healthy and resilient ocean where marine ecosystems are mapped and protected;  
  3. A predictable ocean where society has the capacity to understand current and future ocean conditions;  
  4. A safe ocean where people are protected from ocean hazards;  
  5. A sustainably harvested and productive ocean ensuring the provision of food supply;  
  6. A transparent ocean with open access to data, information and technologies.

 

Participants from the University of Edinburgh Ocean Decade Discussion Forum gather outside of the ECCI.
Participants from the first Edinburgh Oceans Discussion Forum, held at the ECCI in January 2020.

 

Four clear overarching themes emerged: 

 

  1. The strength of the University of Edinburgh lies with its diversity, with research expertise in marine ecology, aquaculture, engineering and technology, oceanography, the ocean-society nexus and law and policy.  
  2. There was a consensus that the ocean research activities across the University would mutually benefit from greater connectivity between disciplines.   
  3. There was a strong desire to promote the excellent marine science research being undertaken at the University of Edinburgh. Our discussion forum suggested that this could be achieved through strengthening the connections between ocean researchers and expertise across schools and colleges.  
  4. Those at the forum highlighted the strong desire of Edinburgh's students to learn more about ocean issues and to become more involved in ocean sustainability activities during their time in Edinburgh.

 

The University of Edinburgh is now an official partner of the UN Ocean Decade.

 

 

 

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