Insight into the 2022 UN Ocean Conference
SOI was proud to be part of the UN Ocean Conference and participated in 15 events while connecting with partners, including Nekton, Seabed 2030, the UN Ocean Decade team, MTS/IEEE, and the National Geographic Society. The UN Ocean Conference occurred in Lisbon, Portugal, from June 27th through July 1st. The conference brought ocean scientists, non-profits, governments, and policymakers together to propel science-based innovative solutions to start a new chapter of global ocean action. A few of SOI’s key contributions were:
- SOI announced its partnership with the National Geographic Society at the UN Ocean Decade Patrons Alliance event attended by the President of Portugal and the President of Kenya, among other dignitaries. You can watch the High-Level Meeting of the Ocean Decade Alliance here.
- SOI participated in several youth-focused events, including hosting a panel on how to get the ocean into pop culture at the Youth Innovation Forum. The panel included Artist-at-Sea Taiji Terasaki, fashion designer RunaRay, and filmmaker David Shaw. SOI exhibited 20 pieces from our Artist-at-Sea collection at the Ciencia Viva Museum and the Gulbenkian Museum, which included Terasaki’s work.
- SOI hosted a panel as part of the UN Ocean Decade Forum on Essential Infrastructure and Innovation for Ocean Knowledge Generation. The panel covered marine technology and software innovations needed to address societal needs. The panel additionally shared the development of three Decade Collaboration Centers – large multi-institutional collaborations on Ocean Prediction, Coastal Resilience, and Ocean Visions. The Ocean Decade’s Technology & Innovation Group’s Vision and the Corporate Ocean Data Group were also announced.
- Ocean Decade Forum attendees were also the first to hear the announcement of the Bouknadel Statement of the Foundations Dialogue, of which SOI is a part. The statement resulted from the UN Ocean Decade Foundations meeting in Morocco earlier in June, where the Foundations met and discussed what they would like to see achieved through the Ocean Decade.
