The Institute was one of the venues of the more than 120 parallel events that were held in different parts of Barcelona in the days leading up to the Conference.
Last week more than 1000 people visited the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) as part of the 2024 UN Ocean Decade Conference. These were the attendees of the "satellite events" that were held at the Institute the days before this global meeting that brought together the ocean community from all around the world. Most of these events were open to all citizens with the aim of focusing on the care of the oceans.
The ICM hosted 18 of the more than 120 side events at the conference. The goal of these events was to create a new foundation to strengthen sustainable ocean management and drive science-based innovation, from global to local, leaving no one behind.
"Holding so many satellite events at the ICM is an example of our strong involvement in the organization of the Conference and our commitment to overcoming the ten ocean challenges identified by the United Nations, a step forward towards developing the science we need for the ocean we want," exposes Marco Talone, Vice Director of Internationalization at the ICM
The ICM at the Ocean Decade Conference
Among the events held at the Institute were sessions on best practices in citizen science to meet the various ocean challenges, blue economy, marine pollution, sustainable development of ocean cities, ocean monitoring from space, management of fisheries and marine protected areas, equal opportunities in the world of ocean science, ocean culture and new forms of ocean knowledge arising from the exchange between art and science.
Likewise, the local and regional perspective played a major role in the agenda of events prior to the Conference, with workshops that addressed the role of science in the maritime agenda of Catalonia and the management of the Catalan coastline. Finally, several documentaries were screened, including the film "Ready for the tsunami?", a co-production of the ICM that tells what causes earthquakes and tsunamis, uncovers new historical evidence on the recurrence with which they happen and reveals the prevention measures and innovations that can keep us safe.
All this occurred with the ICM dressed exclusively for the occasion thanks to the exhibition "The Blue and Us", which occupied different common areas of the Institute and invited us to reflect on the ocean and our connection with it through different languages and approaches. The exhibition is part of the Art and Sea for Social Change program, which belongs to Barcelona Mar de Ciència, a pioneering and transformative space proposed by the ICM to change the relationship of citizens with research and the sea.
About the 2024 Decade of the Ocean Conference
The 2024 UN Decade of the Ocean Conference took place from April 10-12 at the Barcelona International Convention Center (CCIB). It was organized under the motto "The science we need for the ocean we want" and was set up as a global forum to bring together governments, experts from different fields, maritime sectors, universities, NGOs, the private sector and civil society. The event generated great international interest, with more than 5,000 registered requests to attend, and featured more than 40 international speakers.
The result of the meeting is the Barcelona Declaration, a document that calls for joint efforts on a planetary scale to define how to manage the oceans in the future. It also calls for increased investment in maritime science to design global policies and to ensure the sustainability of human activities in the oceans. Finally, the Declaration includes a third general demand: that every opportunity be taken to make visible and disseminate the conclusions that emerge from the work of the participants in the Decade of the Ocean Decade 2021-2030.