Programme A - A Year Of…:
#yearofthenorthsea2018 –Sofie Vandendriessche (ILVO)
“The North Sea starts here”, in your own home, at your workplace, in your street, … That is the message that the #YearoftheNorthSea2018 – consortium wants Belgian citizens to hear, to understand… and to live by. In essence, we want Belgian citizens to value the many services the North Sea provides.
For North Sea policy, 2020 is a big year: it is a benchmark for the European Common Fisheries Policy and for the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and many of the targets under the United Nations' 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below Water) are set for 2020. In Belgium, the reviewed Marine Spatial Plan will be implemented. Scientists, nature conservationists and decision-makers are working hard towards that deadline, but citizens are often unaware of these efforts and of what they entail. 2020 may seem like we have plenty of time, but a lot of work still needs to be done. We can obtain results quicker if citizens actively care for the North Sea by taking small, daily actions. That is where #JaarvandeNoordzee2018 (#YearoftheNorthSea2018) comes in: on Facebook and Twitter, we inform citizens about what is going on in the North Sea and we call them to take actions like avoiding single-use plastics, buying only sustainably-caught fish, and respectfully enjoying the North Sea.
A large social media campaign was new to the consortium members but it quickly gained speed. After the launch by the Belgian State Secretary for the North Sea, we have increased the interaction on social media, added more visuals and now have weekly features. As different partners sometimes have different opinions on certain subjects, the collaboration turned out to be a balancing act. But, that made the consortium stronger. Our #YearoftheNorthSea2018 ‘baby’ is now nearly grown up.
The relevance of Marine Science in Portuguese Journalism – Aurora Ribeiro (ESECS, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria)
The United Nations declared the period from 2021 to 2030 as the Decade of Ocean Science, recognising the importance of a global sharing of its knowledge (IOC_UNESCO, 2017). Taking into account that no global transmission of information is nowadays possible without the media, we analysed one year of marine science news published in the Portuguese national newspaper“Público”. Portugal is a relevant case study for the Portuguese Government has proclaimed the Sea as a national priority for 2020 (PO-MAR, n.d.) while the relationship between the Portuguese population and the ocean has been described as an increasingly detached one (Ministério da Defesa Nacional, 2007). The objectives of this preliminary study were to measure the relevance of marine science news, and to identify the most covered subjects, newsworthiness criteria and news routines. 84 editions were analysed, throughout the year, and 229 cases were collected, between science news, marine news, and marine science news. Relevance was measured and compared between the previous categories by frequency, page position and article types. The results of this analysis suggest that despite positive indicators on the relevance attributed to marine science news, the newsworthiness criteria are not exactly aligned with the objectives behind marine science communication. This oral presentation and the following debate are expected to contribute to the development of better strategies to communicate with the media as well as to discuss the need and means of marine science agenda-building on a national level.
Science year 2017/18 Seas and oceans in Germany, Mission accomplished? –Andreas Villwock (GEOMAR)
In the series of Science Years in Germany, the one on seas and oceans was the longest and one of the most successful ones since the beginning of this series in the year 2000. Many partners from Universities, as well as research institutions and NGOs participated. The contribution of the marine research institutes was coordinated by the German Marine Research Consortium (KDM) and received a high visibility through numerous events and activities. Some of the best casestudies will be highlighted. Looking forward: Mission accomplished and back to normal? What is the legacy and how should we proceed? Should we have an European Science Year on the Oceans?
Programme B - Communications Tools:
Using a synthesis report to support science, policy and public impact – Martin Ince (Martin Ince Communications Limited)
The Future Ocean Cluster at Kiel integrates the arts, humanities and social sciences with the natural and life sciences. A major report in English celebrates its novel success. Its scope ranges from citizen science and the co-design of research to discoveries in coastal change, deep sea mining and the use of biochemicals from marine organisms. The Cluster partnered with UK science writer Martin Ince on this Synthesis Report. He will lead a discussion of its origin and implementation.
Aerosols - not only in spray - Tymon Zielinski (IO PAN)
Being an active researcher, who is involved in research on atmospheric aerosols and their impact on radiative budget, hence climate changes, I feel like this is a very good topic to “sell” for general public. It is not only one of the key climate issues for us but also a topic which provides many opportunities for interesting events and workshops with general public. Therefore, together with Izabela, a non-formal educator, we created a set of 10 lessons about aerosols and all physical phenomena which they are involved in. Each lesson is an independent set, with an introduction, hands-on experiments and/or quizzes, games etc., messages to take home. All 10 lessons create a complete compendium of knowledge about aerosols and their role in the atmosphere. I contribute scientific information and Izabela makes sure that it is interesting, innovative and cut to keep students motivated and interested.
Connecting marine science with everyday life, Delphine El-Khassawneh (NAUSICAA)
14 partners in 11 European countries are involved in the Marina project. We have organised 45 participative workshops over the last two years, which addressed marine biotechnology, sea transportation, deep-sea mining, marine changes caused by climate, renewable energy, tourism and coastal cities, fishing and aquaculture, and pollution caused by human land and sea pressures.
However working together is not easy, especially across national boundaries and between different maritime sectors. In order to develop a sustainable blue economy, that supports both people and nature, it is important that we reconcile the many views, values and ambitions of all those involved. People feel disconnected to marine issues that do not directly affect their daily lives…Climate change, ocean health, marine pollution, fish stocks, food security… How do we engage people with topics they don't really feel they can relate to?
We will present the methods that we have used to engage with stakeholders, with the aim of co-creating solutions to marine issues. The objectives are to demonstrate the challenges of working with diverse marine interest groups, share positive lessons and approaches for tackling these challenges. We hope to inspire attendees to use new approaches to stakeholder engagement.
