ALBERT

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 UNESCO General Conference adopted the Strategy for Action on Climate Change (SACC) which outlined UNESCO’s four-point strategy to support Member States adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects on their citizens and territories over the period 2018-2021. As the Strategy comes to an end, the Organization has commissioned an evaluation to assess its effectiveness and determine whether it should be renewed. Owing to its careful alignment with existing international reference frameworks in the area of climate change, in particular the 2015 Paris Agreement, the Strategy has successfully positioned UNESCO as a contributor in this field and the Organization’s insights on climate change within the framework of its specific areas of expertise is valued by partners and Member States alike. In the 3 years of the Strategy’s existence, the Organization produced knowledge products and undertook multiple interventions, especially targeting UNESCO’s priority groups (Africa, women, indigenous peoples, SIDS, youth) and ensuring their involvement in policy development and trainings. However, it is difficult to measure the effects of these activities or even attribute their results to the SACC specifically. Indeed, while the SACC has had the merit of giving UNESCO the political legitimacy and strategic guidance to act on climate-related issues, most of these activities were embedded in UNESCO’s existing programmes and have been largely reported against the different Major Programmes’ and IOC’s expected results. This is further amplified by the lack of a dedicated budget to implement the Strategy, which has led to an overreliance on ad hoc fundraising efforts to attract extrabudgetary resources and diverging implementation strategies depending on local context and Sectors’ priorities. Although the SACC aimed to encourage greater in-house cooperation to achieve its objectives, the evaluation found that, despite the existence of a large cross-sectoral Task Team, the SACC has failed to fully foster intersectoriality. As a result, whilst UNESCO has registered significant achievements and made important contributions, its action on climate change has not necessarily been cohesive.

Description: OPENASFA INPUT

Description: Published

Description: Refereed

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: Since the 1990s UNESCO has been a leading UN Organization in Bioethics and Ethics of Science and Technology. It developed a number of international normative instruments, which were adopted by expert advisory bodies and became the basis for two global capacity building programmes (Assisting Bioethics Committees (ABC) and Ethics Education Programme (EEP)) that are managed by Headquarters and implemented with the support of Field Offices. This evaluation examined how the Organization’s Bioethics and Ethics of Science and Technology Programme had been designed and implemented during 2010-2016, as well as the results achieved with the aim of suggesting improvements. The evaluation found that past and current normative work continues to drive the programme. UNESCO also provides a global forum for reflection on Bioethics and Ethics of Science and Technology through its advisory bodies, though the working methods of the latter require review. Its capacity building programmes are relevant, but not sufficiently demand-driven and require different delivery modalities. The Organization’s partnerships in the field are underutilized and their full potential not yet realized.

Description: OPENASFA INPUT

Description: Published

Description: Not Known

Description: The present report, prepared pursuant to document 39 C/46, 39 C/Resolution 15 and 209 EX/Decision 5.I.B, provides a summary of a recent evaluation, namely the Evaluation of the UNESCO Strategy for Action on Climate Change (2018-2021).

Description: Item 8 of the Provisional Agenda of the 212th Session of the Executive Board of UNESCO (212 EX/8). OPENASFA INPUT

Description: Published

Description: Not Known

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

Description: La détermination de la chloruration des eaux de mer est effectuée depuis de nombreuses années par la méthode volémetrisque de Moher.

Description: Published