Worldwide dedicated structures will play a key role in guiding regional activities to support the development of programmes, projects and activities that will be endorsed as “Decade Actions”.
•The Western Tropical Atlantic Regional Planning Group (WTA IPG)
The WTA IPG was established in July 2020 to advance and coordinate strategic partnerships and actions for the Western Tropical Atlantic region, and benefits from the support of IOCARIBE as its official Secretariat. In 2020, WTA IPG developed a framework of major challenges and actions around each Decade outcomes and will organize in 2021 a series of virtual workshops to support the elaboration of a regional action plan.
Contact point:
IOC- of UNESCO Sub-Commission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (IOCARIBE) Cesar Toro
c.toro@unesco.org
Website: http://iocaribe.ioc-unesco.org/undecadeevents/undecadewtarw
Information:
Please click here for more information.
•The Arctic Taskforce
Lead by the Danish Center for Marine Research, the Arctic Task Force has prepared a Decade Arctic Action Plan through a series of virtual working group meetings around the Ocean Decade seven societal outcomes and an online consultation (from March to April 2021) on the first version of the Action Plan. The Decade Arctic Action Plan identifies actions and priorities for the Arctic Ocean in the Ocean Decade and offers a Road Map towards implementation of Decade activities and networking opportunities among Arctic actors from science, governments, industry and NGOs. The Decade Arctic Action Plan can be consulted here.
Contact point:
Danish Centre for Marine Research
Colin Stedmon and Christian Riisager-Simonsen
Email: dch@danskhavforskning.dk
Website: https://www.oceandecade.dk/arctic-workshop
•The Southern Ocean process
The Southern Ocean community engaged in a stakeholder-oriented process (spanning from the scientific research community, to the business and industry sector, and governance and management bodies) to develop an Action Plan for the Southern Ocean. Coordinated by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the Southern Ocean Task Force launched a series of workshops & meetings to identify key research priorities for the Southern Ocean – the first of which was held in February 2020 in San Diego (USA) in the context of the series of Ocean Decade regional planning workshops. The full report of this first workshop can be found here.
During the first semester of 2021, stakeholders will engage in an open survey to provide input on the activities and contributions that should be developed in the context of the Decade. Working Groups will be set up for each of the Decade’s Societal Outcomes to prepare a Draft Southern Ocean Action Plan, which will be presented at the Second Southern Ocean Regional Workshop, to be held from 20-22 September 2021 in The Hague (NL). Following this 2nd Workshop, the Task Force will review and finalize the Southern Ocean Action Plan. Through this combined effort, synergies in priorities over the next decade and tangible Decade actions and deliverables will be identified to achieve these priorities as a community.
Contact point:
Annemie Janssen Email : ajanssen@naturalsciences.be
Website : https://www.sodecade.org/
•The Pacific Regional Planning Group
The Pacific Regional Planning Group for the Ocean Decade was established as a result of the regional planning workshop for the Pacific that was held in Noumea in July 2019. The Planning Group is composed of members of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific and chaired by the Pacific Community Centre of Ocean Science (PCCOS) at the Pacific Community (SPC). Building on the regional consultation, an integrated ocean management programme ‘Pacific solutions for a healthy blue Pacific Continent: Integrated Ocean Management to sustain livelihoods today and into the future’ was submitted in response to the first Call for Decade Actions. This programme will be implemented with overall coordination by the SPC Pacific Community Center for Ocean Sciences (PCCOS) and regional partners: the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC), the Fisheries Forum Agency (FFA), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO), and the Pacific Community (SPC).
Contact point :
Jens Krüger
Email: jensk@spc.int
Website: https://www.spc.int/
•The Regional Planning Group for the Western Pacific
Contact point:
Wenxi Zhu
Email: w.zhu@unesco.org
Website: https://ioc.unesco.org/
•The Regional Planning Group for Africa
Contact point:
Mika Odido
Email: m.odido@unesco.org
Website: https://ioc.unesco.org/
National Decade Committees (NDC) have been established to facilitate national coordination of Decade activities. These national multi-agency and multi-stakeholder platforms involve the national political and scientific institutions and actors concerned by the ocean and its management. Existing national coordinating mechanisms can provide the basis for performing such functions. The NDC will engage the national ocean community (a wide variety of local and sub-national stakeholders) and facilitate co-design of initiatives (programmes, projects and contributions) across groups of stakeholders that can be endorsed as Decade Actions. They will also facilitate hosting of sub-regional or regional meetings related to the Decade.
The Global Stakeholder Forum will provide a platform to promote exchange and cooperation between National Decade Committees.
List of National Decade Committee contact points:
• Brazil
Karen Silverwood-Cope
Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication
Email: cgoa@mctic.gov.br, karen.cope@mctic.gov.br
Website: http://decada.ciencianomar.mctic.gov.br/
News: Click here to know more about the national launch event of the Decade. Discover the key figures of the National Implementation Plan of the Ocean Decade.
The Ministry of Science Technology and Innovations organized an Advisory Committee for the Ocean Decade, 5 Regional Groups to support Mobilization and a Youth Mobilization Group. This governance was built in 2020 including representation from government, civil society, private sector and researches, along with a series of actions and events to prepare Brazil for the Ocean Decade.
• Canada
Allison Webb
Director at Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Email: Allison.Webb@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Email: DFO.OceanDecade-DecennieOcean.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Website: https://dfo-mpo.gc.ca/ocean-decade-decennie-ocean/
News: Click here to know more about the national launch event of the Decade.
• Colombia
Sonia Carolina González Arévalo
Colombian Ocean Commission
Email: internacional@cco.gov.co
you can find further information about the Colombian Decade Committee and national launch event (9 April) here:
http://www.cco.gov.co/decenio-de-las-ciencias-oceanicas-para-el-desarrollo-sostenible-2021-2030.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPIiey1B6C0
•France
Aurélie Chamiot-Prieur
Commission nationale pour la Commission Océanographique Intergouvernementale
Email: aurelie.chamiot-prieur@developpement-durable.gouv.fr
Website: https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/
•Germany
Co-Chairs Gesine Meißner (former MEP)
Prof.Dr. Martin Visbeck
Email: info@ozeandekade.de
Website: http://ozeandekade.de/
List of members: click here
The National Committee will hold its launch meeting in June 2021 after the international launch event with the ambition to promote the Decade in Germany and engage participation from all sectors. The National Committee is developing a national action plan and established eight subgroups to facilitate engagement and action towards the Decade objectives.The National Committee website features some generic information about the Decade and will increasingly incorporate announcements made by the National Committee Members, upcoming events, opportunities for early-career professional and youth involvement, Q&A features of those engaged with the Decade, and a list of National Committee members.
•Italy
Rosalia Santoleri
Italian Oceanographic Commission
Email: segreteria.coi@cnr.it
Website: https://www.cnr.it/en
•India
Srinivasa Kumar Tummala
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India
Email: srinivas@incois.gov.in
Further information regarding Indian National Decade Coordination Committee can be found at https://incois.gov.in/portal/ndcc.jsp
•Japan
Tomohiko Tsunoda
Ocean Policy Research Institute of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation
Email: t-tsunoda@spf.or.jp
Yutaka Michida
University of Tokyo
Email: ymichida@aori.u-tokyo.ac.jp
•Portugal
Luis Menezes Pinheiro
Portuguese Committee for the IOC and University of Aveiro
Email: lmp@ua.pt; luismenezespinheiro@mne.pt
•United Kingdom
Lowri Griffiths, National Oceanography Centre
Marine Science Co-ordination Committee (MSCC)
International Working Group (IWG)
Email: lowri.griffiths@fcdo.gov.uk
Website: https://projects.noc.ac.uk/iwg/decade-undos
•United States
Elizabeth Hillman
National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine (NASEM)
Email: ehillman@nas.edu
Website: https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/us-national-committee-on-ocean-science-for-sustainable-development-2021-2030
The National Committee was created in the first half of 2020, allowing National Committee members to have an early stake in the Decade, including providing feedback on the Implementation Plan, gathering ideas for Decade Actions, and catalyzing support for the Decade. Members of the National Committee are drawn from academia, non-profits, retired government employees, and industry, comprising a well-rounded body of expertise across multiple groups relevant to the Decade. These experts are largely drawn from the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics, Ocean Studies Board, the Marine Board, and Polar Research Board (NASEM).
The National Committee held a launch meeting in February 2021 for U.S. activities in support of the Decade that sought participation from these sectors. The National Committee has developed a communications strategic plan to increase engagement and potential for coordination of Decade activities. The National Committee website features announcements made by the National Committee Members, upcoming events, ocean science resources, opportunities for early-career professional and youth involvement, Q&A features of those engaged with the Decade, and a list of National Committee members.
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National Decade Committees can use the Decade’s logo to implement or coordinate national outreach and communications activities in accordance with the guidelines setout for the use of the Decade logo by National Decade Committees (you can download these guidelines by clicking on the blue button) and in line with the guidance on branding (all use of the logo must comply with the Ocean Decade Brand Guidelines).
IOC Secretariat is increasing a more structured engagement with National Decade Committees and has started organizing regular informal meetings to provide information about the Decade progress, the endorsement process of Decade actions and guidance on the diverse engagement mechanisms (e.g. Stakeholder Forum, Decade Collaborative Centers and Decade Implementing Partners amongst others). IOC also organized a virtual event on 18th May that provided a platform for National Decade Committees, as well as regional taskforces and committees, to share experiences and knowledge, and encourage creation of synergies. You can access the recording of this virtual event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWa60uTLNTo
