Summer 2024 major achievements: Exciting Developments in Ocean Literacy and Co-Creation

The Ocean Incubator Network (OIN) is thrilled to announce several significant asummer achievements that underscore our commitment to enhancing ocean literacy and fostering sustainable environmental practices globally.

1. Launch of the Autumn School "PROTECTION OF THE SEA: ADOPTING CO-CREATED METHODS OF (PUBLIC) PARTICIPATION", University of Bari, Sede di Taranto (DAAD Funded project)

This innovative program, coordinated by Eva Lohse and Annamaria Bonomo, and co-developed by Margherita Paola Poto with the assistance of Laura Vita, is  funded by DAAD. The Autumn School involves esteemed members from the OIN team and is hosted by the University of Bayreuth, University of Turin (Department of Management), and University of Bari, Sede di Taranto. We are honored to receive endorsement from the UN Ocean Decade for this pivotal educational and research initiative.

2. Endorsement of the Ocean Incubator Network Toolkit by the UN Ocean Decade (from 1.9.2024)
The OIN Toolkit, a comprehensive resource aimed at enhancing public participation in ocean conservation, has been endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade. This toolkit is set to be published as an open access book by Palgrave Macmillan (co-edited by Margherita Paola Poto and Laura Vita and with the contributions of our OIN Team members, making it widely available to stakeholders and the public.

3. Expansion to Argentina and Brazil

Thanks to the support from UiT The Arctic University of Norway through the Erasmus+ Global, our network is expanding its reach to Argentina and Brazil for the next three academic years. This project focusing on water governance from Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives, is coordinated by Margherita Paola Poto, in collaboration with academic institutions from Latin America, with Giulia Parola as the contact person in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, Chiquitano territories in Mato Grosso and Manaus) and Violeta Radovich in Argentina (Buenos Aires).

4. Continued Commitment to Co-Creation of Knowledge

Our dedication to co-creating knowledge is ongoing, as evidenced by the recent activities conducted at the Aldeia Maraka’nà. This initiative, led by Giulia Parola, Júlia Xavante, Ana María Montaña Mónoga, Natalia Médici Machado, and Aline Wennerstrom, with participation from Rodrigo Tavares, highlights our collaborative approach to addressing environmental challenges. The report has been submitted to Septentrio UiT and it will be soon accessible as an open access resource, and as a project outcome of the Living Laboratory on Ocean Literacy.

5. Achievements at the interface of marine geosciences and Indigenous knowledge (Natalia Médici Machado)

We are proud to announce that Natalia Médici Machado, our ECOCARE exchange student from Brazil, has been awarded by the European Geosciences Union for her blog post on climate change and indigenous resilience. Her work can be accessed here.