ICSU at the U.N. Ocean Conference

ICSU is convening two side events at the Ocean Conference in New York from 5-9 June, as well as facilitating scientist participation in the conference.

Interconnections among the SDGs as a force multiplier for implementation of SDG14

5 June 2017 – 09:00-10:30 (Conference Room B in the UN Conference Building)

Synergies, trade-offs, and co-benefits have implications for policy discussions on how to achieve progress on SDG14. Together with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Future Earth Ocean Knowledge Action Network, and the Cluster of Excellence “The Future Ocean” this side event aims to outline a framework for organising actions around ocean issues, particularly for less developed states. These interrelationships can be used as a tool for dialogue between policy and scientific communities working on ocean, with a particular focus on human health and well-being that can support local communities that rely on ocean ecosystems. This event will highlight the conclusions and recommendations of the newly launched ICSU report “A Guide to SDG Interactions: from Science to Implementation“.

Moderator: Wendy BROADGATE, (Global Hub Director Future Earth, Stockholm, Sweden)

Speakers:

• Douglas McCAULEY (Assistant Professor at University of California, Santa Barbara, USA) Our Ocean, Our Fate
• Stefanie SCHMIDT (Senior Research Associate, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam, Germany) A guide to SDG Interactions: From Science to Implementation SDG14-a case study
• David OBURA (Director, Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean, CORDIO East Africa, Kenya) SDGs for IOM – signposts for Integrated Ocean Management in the Northern Mozambique Channel and the Western Indian Ocean
• Leopoldo GERHARDINGER (Universidade da Região de Joinville) Healing Partnerships: Transdisciplinary Diagnostics for Global Ocean Stewardship

Hacking science for Ocean Literacy: What’s needed to fully implement SGD14?

9 June 2017 – 11:00-12:30 (Conference Room A in the UN Conference Building)

In this session jointly convened by the International Council for Science, Future Earth and the Earth Journalism Network/UC Berkeley and the New School’s Journalism & Design Programme, we will facilitate a dialogue between science and the media on why and how to improve ocean literacy. It will include a broad range of world leading communicators from TED and researchers with expertise in the challenges of communicating ocean health.

The panel will explore the following questions:

1. What do we know from the latest research why ocean literacy and awareness of ocean health is so low? What do we know about trends in engaging with ocean health?
2. What do know from the latest research about the challenges and opportunities in communicating about ocean health?
3. What do we know from the media about the demand for storytelling and reporting on ocean health?
4. Ideas about how we can leverage the research on oceans communications and the potential of new technologies and design thinking to shift public perspectives on the oceans

Speakers:

• Dr Amelia Greiner Safi (Senior Research Associate, Department of Communication, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University)
• Allison Lichter Joseph (Assistant Professor of Journalism and Design, The New School)
• David Biello (TED Science Curator)
• James Fahn (Executive Director, Earth Journalism Network. Lecturer, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism)