ALBERT

Description: The marine environment, subject to multiple pressures, is transboundary by nature. For ocean management and conservation, there is a need of enhanced collaboration and cross-sectoral solutions. This project aimed to develop a participatory dialogue platform that strengthens cooperation within and between marine regions in line with the 2030 Agenda. The “Marine Regions Forum” brings together stakeholders for joint learning and exchange of good practices, developing recommendations or building of partnerships across sectoral and territorial boundaries. The report shows that the informal format of the "Marine Regions Forum" can complement global discussions and regional efforts alike and thus support processes of ocean governance.

Description: Poor air quality remains a major environmental and health risk in Europe, despite improvements over the last few decades. Consistent exceedances of the nitrogen dioxide air quality limit values at a roadside monitoring station in Potsdam, owing to heavy local and commuter individual motorized traffic, prompted the city administration to implement a trial traffic measure aimed at reducing motorized traffic to improve air quality. This study analysed data (n = 3553) from a questionnaire carried out prior to the implementation of the trial traffic measure. This research provides a case-study to contribute to the understanding of general determinants of air quality perceptions, and policy-relevant information regarding how citizens perceive air quality in the context of a ‘hard’ policy measure. A subset of variables was used to build an ordinal logistic regression model to assess the explanatory power for air quality perceptions. Gender, perceived health status, level of concern for air quality, level of concern for climate change, and the desire for greater access to information regarding air quality were factors found to be significant in their explanatory power of perceptions of air quality. The results are discussed in the broader policy context of attempts to improve air quality in urban environments.

Description: Air pollution remains a problem in German cities. In particular, the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) annual limit-value set by the European Union of 40 µg/m3 was not met at ~40% of roadside monitoring stations across German cities in 2018. In response to this issue, many cities are experimenting with various traffic-reducing measures targeting diesel passenger vehicles so as to reduce emissions of NO2 and improve air quality. Identifying the determinants of public acceptance for these measures using a systematic approach can help inform policy-makers in other German cities. Survey data generated from a questionnaire in Potsdam, Germany, were used in predictive models to quantify support for investments in traffic-reducing measures generally and to quantify support for a specific traffic-reducing measure implemented in Potsdam in 2017. This exploratory analysis found that general support for investments in such measures was most strongly predicted by environmental and air pollution perception variables, whereas specific support for the actual traffic measure was most strongly predicted by mobility habits and preferences. With such measures becoming more common in German cities and across Europe, these results exemplify the complexity of factors influencing public acceptance of traffic-reducing policies, highlight the contrasting roles environmental beliefs and mobility habits play in determining support for such measures, and emphasize the connections between mobility, air pollution, and human health.

Description: Urban mobility is the main source of air pollution in Europe and accounts for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. In order to address this, a range of interventions and policies are being implemented across major European cities and studies in sustainable urban transport have proliferated. One such mitigation strategy involves redesigning urban form through 'hard' traffic policies, with a view of decreasing emission levels and therefore mitigating the effects of air pollution and climate change. However, efforts to assess public response to such interventions and the effectiveness of policy instruments in promoting sustainable travel in cities remain sparse. The city of Potsdam, Germany implemented a trial traffic measure aimed at reducing motorized traffic and promoting the use of bicycles and public transport systems. This study analysed data from 3553 survey participants who responded to a survey conducted prior to the implementation of the traffic measure. We aimed to identify mobility behaviours and underlying attitudes within the context of a 'hard' policy instrument, in order to obtain insight into the opportunities to more effectively define policy priorities that improve air quality and upscale climate mitigation. An exploratory cluster analysis identified four groups, characterised by mobility habits, their attitudes towards the measure, and general level of environmental concern. By identifying and understanding the differing attitudes and perceptions across population groups we are able to highlight group-specific barriers and opportunities, as well as potential transition pathways to encourage more sustainable transportation use. This study exemplifies how context can help to further shape mobility group typologies, identify policy-related priorities useful for decision-makers and assess the feasibility of policy instruments to facilitate a transformation towards more sustainable cities.

Description: The Marine Regions Forum 2023 was held under the headline “Navigating Ocean Sustainability in the Western Indian Ocean and Beyond”, placing a focus on the Western Indian Ocean ( WIO) region and its challenges, and featuring many of the region’s ocean actors and experts. It provided an opportunity to reconnect in-person after the COVID -19 pandemic in a biodiversity-rich area that is particularly vulnerable to climate change, food insecurity and where a large proportion of the population is reliant on the coast for their livelihoods. But the WIO region is also pioneering a regional ocean governance strategy and is a hub of research, capacity development and science-to-policy engagement. This conference provided a platform to share best practices from the WIO region with other marine regions and learn from experiences from other parts of the world. Further, the conference offered a space for on-going processes to receive input from stakeholders and advance work, such as for the regional ocean governance strategy for the WIO that is being developed through an extensive collaborative process and under the auspices of the Nairobi Convention Secretariat. And, at a time where it can feel like international relationships are breaking down, and nations are looking inwards more than out, it was encouraging to gather over 180 people in Dar es Salaam and be hosted by both the United Republic of Tanzania and Republic of Seychelles to look at ways to work together towards a common goal of improved ocean governance at national, regional, and global levels. The conference programme of the Marine Regions Forum 2023 was developed together with partners from the WIO region and experts engaging in the region and built on a yearlong process of engagement and consultation. The coordinating team facilitated the overall co-design and co-delivery of the Marine Regions Forum conference. The shaping of the programme, fine-tuning of content, the selection of speakers and other contributors, and the moderation of sessions and discussions at the conference were a collaborative effort of the team, its partners, and the co-chairs of topical strands and sessions. This is reflected in the key messages of the Marine Regions Forum 2023 which have been compiled by the coordinating team from summary notes of plenaries and workshop sessions and developed jointly with the co-chairs. Although the four topical strands dealt with a broad range of issues, there were commonalities that spread across the discussions. These are summarised below as key messages that emerged and stood out from the three days of the conference.

Description: The Marine Regions Forum 2023 was held under the headline “Navigating Ocean Sustainability in the Western Indian Ocean and Beyond”, placing a focus on the Western Indian Ocean ( WIO) region and its challenges, and featuring many of the region’s ocean actors and experts. It provided an opportunity to reconnect in-person after the COVID -19 pandemic in a biodiversity-rich area that is particularly vulnerable to climate change, food insecurity and where a large proportion of the population is reliant on the coast for their livelihoods. But the WIO region is also pioneering a regional ocean governance strategy and is a hub of research, capacity development and science-to-policy engagement. This conference provided a platform to share best practices from the WIO region with other marine regions and learn from experiences from other parts of the world. Further, the conference offered a space for on-going processes to receive input from stakeholders and advance work, such as for the regional ocean governance strategy for the WIO that is being developed through an extensive collaborative process and under the auspices of the Nairobi Convention Secretariat. And, at a time where it can feel like international relationships are breaking down, and nations are looking inwards more than out, it was encouraging to gather over 180 people in Dar es Salaam and be hosted by both the United Republic of Tanzania and Republic of Seychelles to look at ways to work together towards a common goal of improved ocean governance at national, regional, and global levels. The conference programme of the Marine Regions Forum 2023 was developed together with partners from the WIO region and experts engaging in the region and built on a yearlong process of engagement and consultation. The coordinating team facilitated the overall co-design and co-delivery of the Marine Regions Forum conference. The shaping of the programme, fine-tuning of content, the selection of speakers and other contributors, and the moderation of sessions and discussions at the conference were a collaborative effort of the team, its partners, and the co-chairs of topical strands and sessions. This is reflected in the key messages of the Marine Regions Forum 2023 which have been compiled by the coordinating team from summary notes of plenaries and workshop sessions and developed jointly with the co-chairs. Although the four topical strands dealt with a broad range of issues, there were commonalities that spread across the discussions. These are summarised below as key messages that emerged and stood out from the three days of the conference.

Description: This analysis addresses the question which role regional level governance plays as part of a multi-layered approach addressing marine plastic pollution. It looks at what regional organisations have achieved so far and offers recommendations for policymakers on how these efforts can be leveraged, supported and linked to a proposed new global agreement on marine plastic litter. The research aims to inform international discussions and efforts to prevent plastic pollution, including further work under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Assembly.

Description: The poor state of the ocean and the transboundary nature of the marine environment requires bold action by coastal states coordinated across sectors and territorial boundaries in order to deal with the manifold challenges the ocean is facing – and with it humankind. Cooperation and coordination among States and stakeholders in marine regions have proven to be important levers for policy implementation and to strengthen ocean governance, yet remain challenging. Transparent and engaging stakeholder dialogue processes have the potential to provide guidance for the necessary transformation towards ocean sustainability and support the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for the ocean, SDG 14 and other interlinked ocean-related targets. The aim of this paper is to review the challenges and opportunities of current collaborative efforts, namely multi-stakeholder dialogue and exchange processes, within and between marine regions to accelerate transformative action, contributing to global goals. This paper builds on knowledge co-production and collaborative governance literature, and reviews experiences by stakeholders of current ocean-related science-policy interfaces in an effort to strengthen regional ocean governance. As an exemplary case of such interfaces, it assesses the Marine Regions Forum, a newly established inclusive dialogue and exchange platform for diverse actors from marine regions to engage in informal joint learning and collaboration. Employing latent content analysis of interviews with experts, critical common barriers that hamper current collaborative efforts amongst stakeholders in marine regions are identified, such as fragmented governance frameworks, power and resource imbalances, and lack of meaningful stakeholder engagement. Pathways to address these challenges, such as through common goal orientation, contextualisation, inclusivity, trust building and meaningful continuous interactions are also identified. This paper concludes by discussing the value added of transparent and inclusive collaborative processes in the transformation of ocean governance towards achieving sustainability.