Photo credits: Yale Cohen on Unsplash

The world’s oceans are home to prestige ecosystems and marine biodiversity. The majority of the oceans are not under the jurisdiction of any state. Therefore, regulations to protect and use the ocean’s resources and space need to be agreed on an international level. The United Nations are currently negotiating a legally binding agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) to close gaps in the existing institutional frameworks and set regulations for the protection and further exploitation of common ocean resources.

The monthly MARIPOLDATA Ocean Seminar Series offer a virtual space to get information about timely ocean governance issues, through presentations by international expertsfrom academia, governments, and civil society. They cover recently published political science peer-reviewed articles, policy briefs and other publications relevant to global ocean governance.

Throughout the year, the Ocean Seminar Series will combine input from academics and practitioners on a range of ocean topics, including the ongoing negotiations for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) and specific package elements (Marine Genetic Resources, Area-Based Management Tools, Environmental Impact Assessments, and Capacity Building and Transfer of Marine Technology), and overarching ocean governance topics, such as Ocean pollution, Ocean and Climate Change Nexus, Maritime Crime etc.

Aims:

• provide room for debate on recent publications in the field of ocean science and politics with specific emphasis on ocean protection, sustainable development and SDG14

• facilitate dialogue between different disciplines and research areas and

• increase interdisciplinary exchange between scholars interested in ocean-related issues.

The ocean Seminars are open to anyone interested in global environmental governance and ocean issues from all academic backgrounds.

Target Group:

The sessions are meant for researchers of ocean/climate/biodiversity/earth system governance-related fields from natural and social sciences and law. The Ocean Seminars are interesting for policymakers from international UN processes or regional and local institutions regarding ocean governance, representatives of non-governmental organizations interested in protecting our planet, and supporters of a sustainable blue economy.

Anyone interested in ocean-related issues and research and in reading and discussing recent literature in the field. All disciplines are welcome.

Apart from the monthly information input, they constitute a space for an exchange of most recent scientific findings, the continuation of academic debates, the formation of a strong network of people with various backgrounds, and hopefully the development of new ideas to encourage a healthy way of living in harmony with the ocean.

How to join?

If you are interested, please contact Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki (ina.tessnow-vonwysocki@univie.ac.at) indicating your name and institution to be added to the MARIPOLDATA Ocean Seminar Series´ mailing list and receive the dates for upcoming meetings and the reading material.