Periodic Reporting for period 3 - Respon-SEA-ble (Sustainable oceans : our collective responsibility, our common interest. Building on real-life knowledge knowledge systems for developing interactive and mutual learning media)
Período documentado: 2018-04-01 hasta 2019-03-31
How can we support Ocean Literacy for all? How to develop ocean literacy (with which pre-conditions) so it is effective in supporting changes in perception, attitude and behaviour towards more sustainable management of the ocean? How to assess the impacts/effectiveness of Ocean Literacy initiatives so as to gain better understanding and experience on “what works” – and be able to share and demonstrate the importance of Ocean Literacy?
These are questions that guided ResponSEAble in investigating Ocean Literacy challenges and solutions. Recognising the importance of a collective shift in attitude and behaviour, ResponSEAble addressed different segments of society – children and citizens, but also business & professionals, media, policy makers…. Its overall objective was to investigate and enhance ocean literacy in Europe, supporting the co-development of Ocean Literacy tools/products targeting different audiences, while identfying policy recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of ocean literacy initiatives.
1. Knowledge - What is the current state of knowledge on the human-ocean relationships? What are pressures imposed on marine ecosystems, and benefits and opportunities the ocean provides?
2. Value chains – How are activities connected to the ocean linked to the rest of the economy? Which actors are part of “marine value chains” and who should be targeted in priority by Ocean literacy initiatives?
3. Knowledge sharing and transfer – Which ocean literacy intitiatives are in place ? How would these need to be adapted to be more effective?
ResponSEAble carried out activities such as: (a) the analysis of available knowledge on the human-ocean relationships – focusing on 6 challenges or key stories key to different sea basins in Europe (food from the sea, renewable energy, maritime transport and invasive species, agriculture and eutrophication, sustainable tourism and microplastics); (b) the co-development of Ocean Literacy products and of recommendations for effective ocean literacy in Europe; (c) the sharing and dissemination of experiences, results and recommendations to wider audiences.
In particular, ResponSEAble developed more than 40 OL products for a wide range of societal groups. It mobilized end-users in the co-building of tools/products (following living-lab principles), enhancing the relevance of the OL products. It developed and tested evaluation methods for assessing (ex-post) the effectiveness of OL tools. Overall, it helped bringing Ocean Literacy at the forefront of the marine policy agenda in Europe, developing policy recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of Ocean Literacy. The role of ResponSEAble in contributing to the policy agenda is illustrated by: (1) the European Parliament supports to the 2019 Ocean Dialogues, the final project event co-organised with the H2020 MARINA project including a policy workshop hosted at the European Parliament; (2) The attention given to Ocean literacy by DG MARE, building inter alias on the work carried out by ResponSEAble; (3) the attention given to Ocean Literacy by Helcom thanks to efforts made under ResponSEAble.
Overall, ResponSEAble work has contributed to wider changes that in the long-term will strengthen the governance and sustainable management of the ocean.