iAtlantic Stakeholder Dialogue

09:00 – 12:30, Wednesday 29 June 2022
Chiado Room, Tivoli Oriente Lisboa Hotel

Background

iAtlantic is an EU-funded international research programme undertaking an ocean-wide approach to understanding the factors that control the distribution, stability and vulnerability of ecosystems in the Atlantic Ocean. Our work will help determine the tipping points – the points of irreversible change – for deep and open-ocean ecosystems, highlight which drivers are most crucial in propelling ecosystems towards those tipping points, and provide new insights into the factors that influence and support ecosystem resilience to environmental change.

This is an ambitious programme, spanning the full scale of the Atlantic basin from the tip of Argentina in the south to Iceland in the north, and from the east coasts of Canada and Brazil to the western margins of Europe and Africa. International scientific collaboration throughout the Atlantic region is critical to the project’s success, with sharing of expertise, equipment, infrastructure, data and personnel is at the forefront of iAtlantic’s approach.

A key component of iAtlantic’s work is to engage with a range of regional and sectoral stakeholders as well as relevant international processes to ensure feedback from those processes into relevant areas of iAtlantic research, explore how iAtlantic results will be used by different end-users, and where sectoral groups may be able to contribute knowledge, data and expertise to the project effort. To help facilitate this, a series of high-level Stakeholder Dialogue events are planned through the project, at which results from iAtlantic will be presented, ideas exchanged, and relevant issues discussed.

This meeting is the first of iAtlantic’s Stakeholder Dialogue events. So that we can focus discussions most appropriately and target issues of greatest relevance for participants, we have elected to take a sectoral approach to these Dialogue events; this first event is tailored towards the NGO and civil society community.

Objective of this meeting

The aim of this event is to engage civil society and NGOs in a dialogue on the relevance of basin-scale science for sustainable ocean management. We hope to identify mutual opportunities for the transfer of knowledge, data and expertise, and explore future research needs in light of a changing ocean and key ocean governance processes in relation to marine biodiversity, climate change, and impacts from human activities such as fisheries and deep-sea mining.

The event programme comprises three elements:

Presentation of the iAtlantic project: its aims, activities and key results so far.
Explanation of our engagement with on-going science/policy processes: opportunities already taken and foreseen within the life of the project to showcase and explain ‘best science’
Opportunity for NGOs to share and discuss their interests and priorities, highlight where iAtlantic can support with specific information, and discuss how best to exploit mutual benefits, and maximise project impact and relevance.

Meeting logistics

Participation is by invitation; please RSVP to vikki.gunn@seascapeconsultants.co.uk by Tuesday 21 June 2022.

The meeting will take place in the Chiado Room, Tivoli Oriente Hotel, 27 Avenida de Dom Joao II, Lisbon (a short walk across the street from the main UNOC2022 conference arena – see map here). Refreshments will be provided.

Event programme

Wednesday 29 June 2022; all times local (Lisbon)

09:00	Participants arrive; coffee
09:20	David Johnson, Seascape Consultants; Session Moderator Welcome; introduction to the session
09:30	Murray Roberts, University of Edinburgh; iAtlantic Coordinator Welcome; Introduction to iAtlantic
09:45	Drivers of ecosystem change through time in the Atlantic Johanne Vad, University of Edinburgh
10:00	Ecosystem distribution across the Atlantic Veerle Huvenne, National Oceanography Centre UK
10:15	Multiple stressors & cumulative impacts on marine systems Marina Carreiro-Silva, IMAR/University of Azores
10:30	Questions & comments
10:45	Coffee break; screening of ROV dive footage from the Okeanos Explorer on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
11:15	Translating science to policy: iAtlantic’s input to ongoing policy processes Sebastian Unger, TMG
11:25	iAtlantic science for industry: relevance for the fisheries sector and deep-sea mining Matt Gianni, DSCC
11:35	Discussion, including: – Shared interests and priorities – Areas where iAtlantic can support NGO work with specific information – How best to maximise project impact and relevance.
12:20	Wrap up: reflections on discussions Kristina Gjerde, IUCN
12:30	Meeting close

Our speakers

David Johnson

David Johnson is an independent marine conservation consultant. He is a Director of Seascape Consultants and Coordinator of the Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative. Former Executive Secretary to the OSPAR Commission (2006-2012), David has an academic background and was previously a Royal Navy officer. He works at the interface of marine science and policy, has undertaken high-level consultancies for a range of UN agencies, is actively contributing to key current ocean governance negotiation processes, and has an extensive publication record.

J Murray Roberts

Murray is the iAtlantic Coordinator and Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences where he leads the Changing Oceans research group. His research on cold-water corals and deep-sea biology has taken him to sites off the UK, Norway, Ireland and the SE United States in order to advance understanding of the biology and ecology of cold-water corals and provide the information needed for their long-term management and conservation. Murray has led or participated in 23 offshore research cruises.

Johanne Vad

Johanne is a marine biologist, studying how deep-sea ecosystems including sponge grounds and cold-water coral reefs function. She is particularly interested in the analysis of complex and large datasets, for example, derived from seabed image analysis or RNA sequencing to determine the impacts at different biological scales (from the habitat to the individual) of environmental changes caused by human activities. Within iAtlantic, her main focus is on compiling and analysing ecological data from Canada and Bermuda gathered over extensive time periods.

Veerle Huvenne

Veerle is Principal Researcher at the National Oceanography Centre, UK, where she coordinates the Seafloor & Habitat Mapping team. She has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of habitat mapping and sediment dynamics, aiming to develop an understanding of complex deep-sea environments. Veerle has extensive expertise working with new technologies and marine robotic systems such as AUVs and ROVs, and often works closely with the engineering teams on the development of new sensor or vehicle capabilities.

Marina Carreiro Silva

Marina is a senior scientist at IMAR/OKEANOS, University of the Azores, Portugal, where she co-leads the Azores Deep-Sea Ecology Research group. Her research focuses on the study of the diversity, spatial distribution, and functioning of cold-water corals, linking those with their ecophysiological responses to climate change and human activities under ex-situ experimental conditions. She is committed to translating her results into policy advice for the protection of deep-sea vulnerable marine ecosystems by working closely with the Regional Government of the Azores and through international deep-sea working groups. Marina co-leads iAtlantic's work on the impacts of multiple stressors on marine ecosystems.

Sebastian Unger

Sebastian specialises in ocean governance at TMG Think Tank for Sustainability. He has a background in biology and political science and 15 years of experience in international ocean policy. His research focuses on global governance processes for ocean sustainability, including the development of a new international agreement for marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the governance of deep-sea mining. Sebastian co-leads iAtlantic's work on stakeholder engagement and transfer of science to policy.

Matthew Gianni

Matt is an independent consultant, advisor and advocate for marine conservation based in the Netherlands. He is a co-founder of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and currently serves as its Political and Policy Advisor. He has been involved in international fisheries and marine conservation policy, law and treaty negotiations for almost 30 years at the United Nations General Assembly, UN summits, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, regional fisheries management organizations and the International Seabed Authority.

Kristina Gjerde

Kristina is Senior High Seas Advisor to IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme. For almost 30 years, Kristina has worked on the progressive development of public international law relating to the marine environment, with a growing focus since 2003 on the high seas and international seabed area. Her many interests include ocean governance, shipping, fishing, deep seabed mining, as well as tools and technologies for advancing marine biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. Kristina is a member of iAtlantic's Advisory Board.