ALBERT

Description: Dataset: Share Your Thoughts

Description: Oceanographic data, when well-documented and stewarded toward preservation, have the potential to accelerate new science and facilitate our understanding of complex natural systems. The Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) is funded by the NSF to document and manage marine biological, chemical, physical, and biogeochemical data, ensuring their discovery and access, and facilitating their reuse. The task of curating and providing access to research data is a collaborative process, with associated actors and critical activities occurring throughout the data’s life cycle. BCO-DMO supports all phases of the data life cycle and works closely with investigators to ensure open access of well-documented project data and information. Supporting this curation process is a flexible cyberinfrastructure that provides the means for data submission, discovery, and access; ultimately enabling reuse. Based upon community feedback, this infrastructure is undergoing evaluation and improvement to better meet oceanographic research needs. This poster will introduce the repository and describe some of the strategic enhancements coming to BCO-DMO, and presents an opportunity for you to provide feedback on enhancements yet to come. We invite you to think about your own research workflow of searching and accessing new data for research, and to provide your feedback through the poster’s interactive sections. Your input can help BCO-DMO improve its service to the research community. For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/825238

Description: NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) OCE-1924618

Description: © The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Castorani, M. C. N., Bell, T. W., Walter, J. A., Reuman, D. C., Cavanaugh, K. C., & Sheppard, L. W. Disturbance and nutrients synchronise kelp forests across scales through interacting Moran effects. Ecology Letters, 25(8), (2022): 1854-1868, https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14066.

Description: Spatial synchrony is a ubiquitous and important feature of population dynamics, but many aspects of this phenomenon are not well understood. In particular, it is largely unknown how multiple environmental drivers interact to determine synchrony via Moran effects, and how these impacts vary across spatial and temporal scales. Using new wavelet statistical techniques, we characterised synchrony in populations of giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera, a widely distributed marine foundation species, and related synchrony to variation in oceanographic conditions across 33 years (1987–2019) and 〉900 km of coastline in California, USA. We discovered that disturbance (storm-driven waves) and resources (seawater nutrients)—underpinned by climatic variability—act individually and interactively to produce synchrony in giant kelp across geography and timescales. Our findings demonstrate that understanding and predicting synchrony, and thus the regional stability of populations, relies on resolving the synergistic and antagonistic Moran effects of multiple environmental drivers acting on different timescales.

Description: This study was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) through linked NSF-OCE awards 2023555, 2023523, 2140335, and 2023474 to M.C.N.C., K.C.C., T.W.B., and D.C.R., respectively. The research was initiated during a synthesis working group at the Long Term Ecological Research Network Office and National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis funded under NSF-DEB award 1545288. D.C.R. and L.W.S. were also partly supported by NSF award 1714195, the McDonnell Foundation, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Delta Science Program. This project used data developed through the Santa Barbara Coastal Long Term Ecological Research project, funded through NSF-OCE award 1831937.

Description: This event entitled “Verso la Generazione Oceano” (Towards the Generation Ocean) was the first initiative organized in Italy to present the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (hereinafter the “Decade”). It was held on 22 October 2020 in Milan, Italy. Its goal was to illustrate to the Italian stakeholders the objectives and the plans of the Decade in order to pave the way for the creation of the Generation Ocean campaign (#versolagenerazioneoceano) that will be developed in Italy in 2021. Moreover, this event was organized with the aim to work with different stakeholders and sectors of the society in start developing ideas to be implemented during the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2031). This event was planned to take place in May 2020 and the preparatory work started in January 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, it was postponed and rescheduled as a digital event to 22 October 2020. Nutrition, oxygen, energy, work, health: everything that allows us to live is linked to the ocean. To promote greater knowledge, conservation and sustainable use of the ocean and its resources, the United Nations declared 2021-2030 "Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development". The Decade aims to mobilise the scientific community, policymakers, business and civil society around a collaborative research and technological innovation programme. It will enable the coordination of research programmes, observation systems, capacity building, maritime spatial planning, and marine risk reduction, to improve the management of ocean and coastal zone resources. The Decade of Ocean Sciences should accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 for the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean, seas and marine resources. The goal is also to create together “the ocean we need, for the future we want”. With this in mind, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) represented by its Executive Secretary, Dr Vladimir Ryabinin, organised a popular event "Towards the Generation Ocean" to present in Italy the Decade of Ocean Science. In collaboration with various partners, the event aims to initiate a movement that gives voice to the importance of having a resilient ocean, a productive ocean and a healthy ocean. The event focussed on three great challenges: "climate change, food safety and human health". From the No’hma theatre in Milan, “Towards the Generation Ocean” gathered virtually from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., researchers, professionals, sustainable entrepreneurs, and also chefs, musicians, journalists and experts from various sectors of society. The time to act is now and we must act together! was the message. The event was an initiative dedicated to the role of marine scientific research as an essential tool to ensure the health of the planet and the announcement of a new era represented by the "Generation Ocean". It strived to spread greater awareness of the importance of the ocean and to promote innovative solutions to the challenges we will face in the coming years. At the end of the morning, the event hosted the award ceremony of Oceanthon, the digital hackathon aimed at students, researchers, developers, experts in communication, economics, marketing and design, participating in the design of innovative ideas for the conservation of the ocean. The highlight of the mobilisation event was the presentation of the Oceanthon Prize by Davide Villa, CMO and Board Member of E.ON Italia to the winning “River Cleaner” project by Blue Eco Line startup. The initiative mobilized institutions, companies, non-profit organizations, media and popular people with great interest in the objectives of the Decade. All of them are called to become the promoters of specific initiatives and helper of the IOC as coordinator of the Decade in raising awareness, and facilitating stakeholders’ commitments for the Decade. See related web article: https://en.unesco.org/news/towards-generation-ocean-united-create-ocean-we-need-future-we-want .

Description: OPENASFA INPUT For bibliographic purposes this document should be cited as follows: UNESCO-IOC. 2020. Italian Digital Mobilization Event for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development: “Towards the Generation Ocean”, 22 October 2020, Milan, Italy. Paris, UNESCO, (Workshop Reports, 292).

Description: Published

Description: Not Known

Description: In 2017, the UN General Assembly declared the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). It has entrusted IOC-UNESCO with the design and delivery of the Decade to ensure that ocean science is indeed underpinning sustainable ocean management and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda more broadly. Fulfilling its mandate as trustee of the Ocean Decade, as well as delivering on a growing list of additional roles, in an oceanographic space that is both expanding and increasingly crowded, establishes an important opportunity but also an overarching challenge for IOC-UNESCO. In the context of the upcoming UN Decade of the Ocean, the IOC-UNESCO agreed with the Internal Oversight Service (IOS) on the merit of conducting an evaluation of its strategic positioning within the UN system and the broader landscape of ocean-related actors and programmes, taking into account relevant enabling policy frameworks to which the work of the Commission responds.

Description: OPENASFA INPUT Published by UNESCO's Internal Oversight Service.

Description: Published

Description: Not Known

Description: World Oceans Day is celebrated every year on 8 June to acknowledge the importance of the oceans in the global environment. This international day observed by the United Nations serves as an occasion to raise awareness on the protection of the oceans and on the sustainable use of its resources, as well as to discuss ways to further develop and share scientific knowledge on ocean related issues. This year, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, together with the Ocean and Climate Platform, dedicates this special day to the key role played by the ocean in maintaining a healthy environment. Held under the theme “Healthy Ocean, Healthy Planet”, World Oceans Day 2016 gives special focus on the prevention of plastic pollution.

Description: Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Description: OpenASFA INPUT

Description: Published

Description: Non Refereed

Description: Capacity building is an essential tenet of IOC’s mission: It enables all Member States to participate in and benefit from ocean research and services that are vital to sustainable development and human welfare on the planet. This Strategy’s vision identifies capacity development as the primary catalyst through which IOC will achieve its four high level objectives in the current 2014–2021 IOC Medium-Term Strategy. Over the past 55 years Member States have derived numerous benefits from IOC’s capacity development from the first International Indian Ocean Expedition to the revitalisation of African marine science coordination and establishment of the global tsunami warning network including the monitoring/forecasting networks that save lives (see addendum, section III). Reinforced partnerships between IOC and its Member States, other UN agencies, donors, and the scientific community have been the cornerstone of this success. During this period, the transformation of ocean science capabilities, accelerating threats to ocean health and ecosystem services, and the growing challenge of sustainable development require the IOC and its Member States to accelerate the pace of IOC capacity development. Resource constraints, both staff and funding, limit IOC’s ability to mobilise the necessary partnerships to address Member State science and services that will enhance human welfare and sustainable economic development. In 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted the Oceans and the law of the sea Reso lution   (A/RES/69/245) which reiterated the essential need for cooperation, including through capacity building and transfer of marine technology, “to ensure that States, especially developing countries, in particular the least developed countries and small island developing States, as well as coastal African States, are able both to implement the Convention1 and to benefit from the sustainable development of the oceans and seas, as well as to participate fully in global and regional forums and processes dealing with oceans and law of the sea issues.” 2015 will mark the establishment of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, which is expected to be integrated as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). IOC has a unique international niche in ocean science, services and capacity development: (a) fostering international cooperation for sustained observations of the oceans; (b) generating oceanographic data and information products and services and interaction between research, operational, user communities and decision-makers in order to derive maximum societal benefit from new knowledge to achieve IOC’s High Level Objectives. The IOC will mainstream its natural and social science approach to capacity development in its Member States and, in particular, in Priority Africa, SIDS and Gender Equality. This strategic framework provides six outputs and numerous activities that are elaborated in detail below. These outputs call for investing in people and the institutions of which they are a part, enhancing access to scientific tools and methodologies, reinforcing IOC’s capabilities to provide services to Member States, enhancing the communication between scientific and policy makers communities, expanding ocean literacy in civil society and mobilising resources to accomplish these goals. While this framework provides general guidance on elements of an implementation plan yet to be developed, elevating IOC’s impact to the scale required is contingent on: • Reinforcing and valuing IOC staff at global and regional levels and, where necessary, participating national ocean scientific and governance institutions; • Integrating IOC global and regional mechanisms to rapidly expand Member State participation in IOC programmes: - Empowering IOC regional sub-commissions and other subsidiary bodies o engage with Member States, expanding collaboration and capacity development (including transfer of marine technology) on their coastal and marine affairs priorities - Strengthening global science programmes to increase scientific engagement with Member State coastal and marine priorities; • Recommitting to partnerships through the IOC with its Member States, UN organizations and other agencies, scientific community and civil society; • Mobilizing resources, e.g., personnel, funds, knowledge, and observing networks, to deliver the capacity development on which science, services and human communities depend; and • Continued attention to “enabling institutional conditions” as identified in discussions on “The Future of IOC”. The conclusions identify elements of a draft work plan including conducting needs assessments to establish CD work plans, mobilizing associated resources and enhanced communication and collaboration.

Description: OPENASFA INPUT

Description: Published

Description: Refereed

Description: Recalling IOC-Resolution XXX-3 and in accordance with 207 EX/Dec.5.II.A, this report provides a summary of a recently completed evaluation, namely: Internal Oversight Service (IOS) Evaluation of the Strategic positioning of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO).

Description: Item 9 of the provisional agenda of the Executive Board of UNESCO (212 EX/9). OPENASFA INPUT

Description: Published

Description: Non Refereed

Description: The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO) has functional autonomy within UNESCO. It is the only UN body specializing exclusively in ocean science, ocean observation, ocean data and information exchange and dedicated ocean services such as Tsunami Early Warning Systems. In 2019, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission was tasked to lead the UN Decade of the Ocean. This opportunity, combined with a fast-evolving ecosystem of international actors in an expanding and increasingly crowded ocean policy and marine science space, prompted IOC-UNESCO to request an evaluation of IOC-UNESCO with a focus on its strategic positioning within the UN system and the broader landscape of ocean-related actors and programmes to meet the high demand for sound ocean science in an oceanographic space. The evaluation found that IOC-UNESCO is a valued partner for Member States as well as other international and national actors, and indispensable for strengthening capacities and providing the data and technical information on ocean science policy that serves as a basis for national level data. IOC-UNESCO has been most successful in providing contributions to UN Frameworks and Conventions (e.g. UNFCCC, Sendai and CBD), in acting as a neutral platform to discuss the increasingly relevant issue of ocean health and climate change, in bringing Member States together and fostering exchanges between governments and scientists, as well as in providing to the extended oceanographic community access to data, information and science. However, strategic advocacy at the national level, engagement at the regional level, and resourcing and visibility of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the ocean space within and outside IOC-UNESCO are among the areas where further improvements are required. The establishment of the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development is the most important strategic institutional achievement of IOC-UNESCO in recent years. It is an important opportunity, but the absence of a clearly defined results framework and inadequate resources could jeopardize its success. Furthermore, it still needs to be determined how to best exploit IOC-UNESCO’s data and knowledge base and how UNESCO can best support the Decade, among other through intersectoral work.

Description: OPENASFA INPUT

Description: Published

Description: Refereed