Add us as your preferred source on Google to see more of our content in Search.
Add to Preferred SourcesEngaged in joint worldwide cooperative projects since the 1990s, the world’s two leading scientific cooperation organizations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in light of their common determination to work together on the development and implementation of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (the Ocean Decade).
UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the International Science Council (ISC) signed their new MoU at UNESCO Headquarters, setting in motion a far-reaching framework of cooperation in support of the UN Ocean Decade due to start officially in January 2021.
Key planned actions include promoting the Ocean Decade among the scientific community, contributing to Decade preparations, accelerating scientific initiatives, and exploring opportunities for joint fundraising for scientific research.
“The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development is a unique opportunity to engage the ocean science community in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals – globally, regionally and locally. Representing scientists from all fields of knowledge, the International Science Council is particularly well-placed to help us mobilize and realize the full potential of the global scientific community in unlocking solutions for the ocean we want,” emphasized IOC Executive Secretary Vladimir Ryabinin during the signing ceremony.
Combining the various scientific and policy networks of both organizations will be crucial to ensuring that the Decade can effectively harness the energy and represent the priorities of key ocean stakeholder groups at the global and regional level.
Beyond the substantive development of the Decade and its research portfolio, the MoU identified communication and outreach as one of the main axis for joint action. ISC is committed to promoting the Ocean Decade and its activities among its membership and wider community, which includes international scientific unions and associations, national and regional academies of science and research councils, international initiatives (e.g., on data, Antarctic research, space, oceanic research, and government science advice), as well as its key partners (e.g., Belmont Forum and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations).
The IOC-ISC partnership illustrates well the importance of collaboration between international scientific organizations, who together can mobilize key national, regional and global actors across the science-policy-society nexus to generate knowledge for the benefit of humankind.
Original source: UNESCO
Published on 12 February 2020