Unveiling the Steering Committee for the Decade Coordination Office, Tasked with Linking Society and Oceans for a Whole Decade

Unveiling the Steering Committee for the Decade Coordination Office, Tasked with Linking Society and Oceans for a Whole Decade

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (Ocean Decade) has launched a significant initiative, Ocean Decade Challenge 10, aimed at restoring society's relationship with the ocean. This challenge, one of ten strategic objectives, seeks to achieve a clean, healthy, resilient, and inspiring ocean by 2030.

At the helm of this challenge is the Steering Committee, a multidisciplinary, collaborative body that guides, monitors, and promotes efforts to reconnect people emotionally and practically to the ocean. The committee's composition typically includes experts from science, policy, academia, communication, private sector, and community organizations, ensuring a holistic approach to rekindling our bond with the ocean.

The Steering Committee for Ocean Decade Challenge 10 is a dedicated scientific and stakeholder group that oversees progress, fosters collaboration among diverse stakeholders, and ensures the generation of knowledge and policies that help society rebuild a sustainable and emotionally connected relationship with the ocean.

The committee's activities contribute effectively to the ethos of the Decade: "The science we need for the ocean we want." It aligns science and policy actions to advance sustainable practices and increase ocean awareness among society, supporting the development of science-based policies at multiple governance levels and mobilizing a variety of sectors including NGOs, governments, businesses, educators, and communities.

Although precise names of the committee members for Challenge 10 were not explicitly mentioned in the available search results, similar committees are known to include high-level representatives such as national ocean governance leaders, scientific experts, and strategic directors involved with the IOC-UNESCO and Ocean Decade initiatives.

The DCO, hosted by the UNESCO-IOC Project Office in Venice, Italy, spearheads the implementation of Ocean Decade Challenge 10. The DCO champions Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity (JEDI) in ocean science, supports multi-stakeholder collaboration, and elevates Indigenous and Local Knowledge (ILK) to honor the wide and varied heritage of oceanic cultures.

Nicola Bridge, Head of Ocean Advocacy and Engagement at the Ocean Conservation Trust (OCT), is Co-Chair of an Ocean Decade Working Group and President of EMSEA (European Marine Science Educators Association). She drives advocacy campaigns to support everyone to think about the Ocean in their daily lives and is responsible for developing, leading, and evaluating the OCT's formal and informal conservation learning programmes.

Other notable members of the DCO Steering Committee include Timothy Beatley, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities at the University of Virginia, Sonia Levy, a London-based artist and research-led filmmaker, and Leopoldo Cavaleri Gerhardinger, an Adjunct Researcher in Socioecology at the National Institute of the Atlantic Rainforest (INMA), under Brazil's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The DCO will amplify awareness and initiatives that highlight the links between human health and ocean health, focusing on nature-based solutions like creating new areas in harbour basins, coastal protection, and underwater breakwaters to reduce climate impact. It will also support Bodhi Patil, a UN-recognized, award-winning GenZ ocean-climate "Solutionist" dedicated to improving the interconnectedness between ocean health and human health, in his efforts.

Moreover, the DCO will collaborate with Jarina Mohd Jani, a senior lecturer in human ecology at the Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, whose current research includes studying Human-Sea turtle interactions in the South China Sea. Jani serves on the Advisory Committee of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Marine Turtles and their Habitats of the Indian Ocean and South China Sea (IOSEA).

Diz Glithero, an interdisciplinary educator, social science researcher, and multi-partner project leader specializing in ocean, climate, and sustainability learning and civic engagement, co-founded Ocean Week Canada and co-led the co-development of "Land, Water, Ocean, Us: A Canadian Ocean Literacy Strategy" (March 2021). Glithero recently served as the co-chair and co-author of the Ocean Decade Vision 2030 Challenge 10 white paper and is the Executive Director of the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition.

In summary, the Steering Committee for Ocean Decade Challenge 10 is a vital component of the UN Ocean Decade framework, connecting science, policy, and public engagement to restore society’s relationship with the ocean, emphasizing its critical role in climate protection and sustainable development.

1. The Steering Committee guides, monitors, and promotes efforts to reconnect people with the ocean, ensuring a holistic approach to rekindling our bond.
2. The committee involves experts from various fields like science, policy, academia, communication, private sector, and community organizations.
3. The Steering Committee aims to achieve a clean, healthy, resilient, and inspiring ocean by 2030.
4. The committee's activities support the development of science-based policies at multiple governance levels.
5. The composition of the committee includes high-level representatives such as national ocean governance leaders, scientific experts, and strategic directors.
6. The DCO champions Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity (JEDI) in ocean science.
7. The DCO supports multi-stakeholder collaboration to achieve its objectives.
8. The DCO raises awareness about the links between human health and ocean health.
9. The DCO collaborates with experts like Sonia Levy, an artist and research-led filmmaker, and Leopoldo Cavaleri Gerhardinger, a socioecology researcher.
10. The DCO amplifies initiatives to create new areas in harbour basins for nature-based solutions.
11. The DCO supports Bodhi Patil, a UN-recognized ocean-climate "Solutionist".
12. Jarina Mohd Jani, a senior lecturer in human ecology, studies Human-Sea turtle interactions in the South China Sea.
13. Diz Glithero co-founded Ocean Week Canada and authored the Ocean Decade Vision 2030 Challenge 10 white paper.
14. The Steering Committee emphasizes the critical role of the ocean in climate protection and sustainable development.
15. The committee encourages society to think about the ocean in their daily lives, supporting ocean awareness and conservation.
16. The DCO partners with the Ocean Conservation Trust (OCT) to develop conservation learning programs.
17. The Steering Committee contributes to the ethos of the Decade, "The science we need for the ocean we want."
18. The committee fosters collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including NGOs, governments, businesses, educators, and communities.
19. The Steering Committee aligns science and policy actions to advance sustainable practices.
20. The committee's work focuses on health-and-wellness areas like climate change, mental-health, and autoimmune-disorders.
21. The DCO's activities promote therapies-and-treatments for chronic-diseases, particularly respiratory-conditions and digestive-health issues.
22. The DCO supports research into eye-health, hearing, and skin-conditions, aiming to improve healthcare for all.
23. The committee's work addresses sexual-health concerns and promotes a comprehensive approach to health-and-wellness.
24. The DCO's initiatives support men's-health, focusing on prostate-cancer and cardiovascular-health.
25. The committee also invests in women's-health, promoting family-planning and addressing reproductive-health issues.
26. The DCO's parenting resources help families manage the challenges of child-rearing while addressing weight-management concerns.
27. The Steering Committee's work in climate-science and environmental-science has implications for space-and-astronomy, cybersecurity, finance, lifestyle, fashion-and-beauty, food-and-drink, investing, wealth-management, home-and-garden, business, personal-finance, gadgets, data-and-cloud-computing, technology, artificial-intelligence, relationships, pets, traveling, cars, education-and-self-development, personal-growth, shopping, and learning.

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