Ocean governance training workshop - Ocean Health Research

Ocean governance capacity building workshop

Jurere Beach Resort, Sunday 9 October 2022

Led by Ben Boteler and Matt Gianni, with input from Luise von Pogrell, David Johnson and Vikki Gunn, this workshop provided information on the importance of “translating” scientific findings to policy and regulatory action. We discussed the various means and methods of identifying the scientific information that policy-makers and regulators are likely to find relevant and the means by which to effectively interject the information into regulatory processes. We also discussed a number of such processes, for example regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) in the Atlantic that regulate bottom fisheries for their impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems and the current negotiations at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to develop regulations needed to protect and preserve the marine environment from the harmful effects of mining activities. ‘Real world’ examples from these and other organisations demonstrated on how science has been used to inform the debates and negotiations regarding conservation and sustainable use of the marine environment.

Workshop programme

>> Download the detailed workshop programme and supporting documents here
>> Workshop summary report

10:00 – 10:30	Welcome and introduction
10:30 – 11:30 (inc. coffee break)	Presentations and discussion: International Ocean Governance/ current challenges and opportunities to bringing science to policymakers Speaker: Matthew Gianni Overview of deep-sea mining negotiations and the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Deep-sea fisheries and measures adopted by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) Biodiversity Commitments/ UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration Negotiations on the new UN treaty for marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) Speaker: David Johnson Negotiations on the new UN treaty for marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) The ocean and climate change dialogue of the UNFCCC (UN Climate Change treaty) UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) process for describing ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs) Global Biodiversity Targets and Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Decision under negotiation for adoption by the 15th Conference of Parties to the CBD UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development
11:30 – 11:45	Coffee break
11:45 – 12:30	Presentations and discussion: Ocean Governance in Brazil: the regional and national scale – José Ángel Peréz From Science to Policy: Lessons from ATLAS, iAtlantic and other projects – Vikki Gunn
12:30 – 13:30	Lunch break
14:00 – 15:30	Group work: translating scientific research into practice Group discussions with a focus on deep-sea research and bringing scientific research to the attention of policy makers. Facilitated by Ben Boteler. Session 1: Creating a science pitch – convince policy makers that your work is important (individual work) Presentation: Science to policy: challenges and opportunities – David Johnson Session 2: Pathways to policy – bringing your science to where it is needed (group work)
15:30 – 15:50	Coffee break
15:50 – 16:20	Reporting back to plenary & closing discussion
16:20 – 16:30	Personal reflections and development of take-home messages
16:30	Workshop close

Questions?

Please contact the iAtlantic Project Office: i-Atlantic@ed.ac.uk