The crest of a wave

The event aims to develop a research programme examining our influence on the ocean and the ocean’s influence on us

6 July 2021

2 min read

School of the Environment, Geography, and Geosciences Faculty of Science and Health Revolution Plastics Global outlook Centre for Blue Governance Protecting our Environment

Over 100 researchers from all over the world with gather this week as UN workshop hosted by University of Portsmouth to accelerate action for a more sustainable ocean.

The event, which is part of the UN Ocean Decade, aims to develop a research programme examining our influence on the ocean and the ocean’s influence on us. This relationship is known as Ocean Literacy. Researchers believe if the ocean is to survive, this partnership needs improving. 

Organised as a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth, the Marine Social Science Network, Cardiff University, and the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition, the workshop will be the first of three to take place from July 2021 to June 2022. 

In spite of the huge benefits that the ocean provides humankind it is being degraded at an alarming rate.

Professor Steve Fletcher, Professor of Ocean Policy and Economy and Director of Revolution Plastics

This first workshop will bring together a global community of researchers and practitioners with an interest in the UN Ocean Decade’s goals to enhance and foster ocean literacy. The workshop will act as a 'stocktake' of ocean literacy research to date.  It will look at what research has been done and the outcomes. This crucial first workshop provides an opportunity to identify gaps, priorities, and interests.

Professor Steve Fletcher, Professor of Ocean Policy and Economy and Director of Revolution Plastics at the University of Portsmouth is hosting the event. He says, “In spite of the huge benefits that the ocean provides humankind it is being degraded at an alarming rate.  These workshops will help us understand the relationship between society and the sea.  There is an interdependency between people and the sea which is currently unsustainable; we need to reinvent this relationship to produce more sustainable outcomes.”  

We expect this deficit to be overcome now that the UN Decade of Ocean Science has been launched.

Ambassador Peter Thomson, United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean

Ambassador Peter Thomson, United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Ocean, said: “It is an astounding situation when you consider that the ocean contains the majority of life on this planet, covers around 70 percent of the planet’s surface, produces over 50 percent of the planet’s oxygen and yet the majority of the ocean’s properties remain unknown to science. We expect this deficit to be overcome now that the UN Decade of Ocean Science has been launched.”