Decade Collaborative Centres & Decade Coordination Offices

Decade Collaborative Centres (DCCs) and Decade Coordination Offices (DCOs) provide targeted support to the Ocean Decade through a coordination and catalysis role for Decade Actions at the regional or thematic level.

Decade Collaborative Centres (DCCs) and Decade Coordination Offices (DCOs) provide dedicated long-term support to coordinate Decade Actions at the regional (i.e. around major Ocean basins) or thematic (i.e. around Decade Challenges) levels. They support Decade Actions with capacity development, communications, tracking of progress and resource mobilisation, as well as catalysing new partnerships and initiatives as part of the Decade.

DCCs and DCOs enhance collaboration, promote effective co-design and uptake of science, and optimize the use of resources among the diverse stakeholders that contribute to the Ocean Decade.

They work in direct collaboration with the Decade Coordination Unit, relevant National Decade Committees, and Decade Implementing Partners.

DCCs and DCOs also proactively support the Ocean Decade Communities of Practice that correspond to their thematic or regional focus, facilitating their structuring, membership and active engagement via the GSF.

DCOs are hosted by UN entities, while DCCs are hosted by international or regional institutions. The goal is to have at least one DCC or DCO for every Decade Challenge and every major ocean basin by 2024.

If your institution would like to make a decisive contribution to the Ocean Decade by creating a DCO or DCC, please read more here and contact us via email: oceandecade@unesco.org

If you are responsible for, or a collaborator in, a Decade-endorsed Action, find out more about the DCCs and DCOs and join the Communities of Practice they are supporting on the Global Stakeholder Forum.

Thematic DCOs and DCCs

Decade Collaborative Centre for Coastal Resilience (DCC-CR)

Host institution: University of Bologna (Italy)

Coastal regions encompass the land bordering the ocean, intertidal areas, and much of the continental shelf. They are dynamic, densely populated and highly productive in both human economic and natural systems’ terms, yet are vulnerable to many factors including geohazards, pollution, climate change and sea level rise. Resilience can have many definitions, but broadly refers to capacity of the systems in question to recover following a disturbance, such as a tsunami.

The Decade Collaborative Centre for Coastal Resilience (DCC-CR) will contribute primarily to Challenge 6: Increase community resilience to ocean hazards. It will be broad, based across a range of disciplines, fully addressing at least six of the ten Decade Challenges, and covering many aspects of the other four.

The DCC will work in close collaboration with other Decade coordination structures focusing on related aspects of coastal resilience, including but not limited to the DCCs for Ocean-climate nexus, Ocean prediction and Ocean-climate solutions.

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Contact: Nadia PINARDI, DCC-CR Director, nadia.pinardi@unibo.it

Decade Coordination Office for Ocean Observing

Host institution: IOC-GOOS Office (France)

Ocean Decade Challenge 7 identifies the need to ensure a sustainable ocean observing system across all ocean basins that delivers accessible, timely and actionable data and information to all users. Sustained and fit-for-purpose ocean observations will also be vital to address the other Challenges, notably those related to the ocean-climate nexus, ecosystem management, marine pollution, blue food and the development of a sustainable ocean economy.

The broad scope of the Ocean Decade is a major opportunity for the accelerated development of sustained observations, to identify and fill gaps in capacity, to connect the data and the use across silos, to answer the pull to deliver solutions for sustainable economic growth.

The Ocean Observing DCO will ensure connection between the numerous Decade Actions addressing Challenge 7, and ensure actions are built for the future, and that the coordination goes beyond GOOS’ existing scope. In return, there is a clear opportunity for the DCO to have a transformational effect that will lift ocean observing capacity and lead to transformation of GOOS within the Ocean Decade to meet the challenges beyond 2030, leaving behind a practical legacy.

Contact: Emma HESLOP, Deputy Head of the GOOS Project Office, e.heslop@unesco.org

Decade Coordination Office for Ocean Data Sharing

Host institution: IOC-IODE Office (Belgium)

The DCO for Ocean Data Sharing aims to manage the data management and sharing component of the digital ecosystem needed for the Ocean Decade to be successful. It will support the development of the capacity, findability, interoperability and re-usability of ocean data, information and knowledge within the framework of the Ocean Decade and beyond.

Its core focus is on Challenge 8 – Create a digital representation of the Ocean. It will also support and interact with the other components of the digital ecosystem and therefore enable Challenge 7 – Expand the global ocean observing system and Challenge 9 – Skills, knowledge and technology for all, as well as providing the foundational data components required to support activities related to all other Decade Challenges.

The activities of this DCO will promote sustained digital interoperability between the data, information, and digital knowledge generated by initiatives across the Decade, supporting a transparent, structured, intelligent, interoperable, and functional co-development of the Decade’s initial interoperability strategy described in the Implementation Plan.

It will bring together digital stakeholders – across regions, organizational scales, and capacity levels – to negotiate and establish clear agreements (from high- to low-level) on their co-development of the Decade’s digital ecosystem.

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Contact: Peter PISSIERSSENS, Head of IODE, p.pissierssens@unesco.org

Decade Collaborative Centre for Ocean Prediction (DCC-OP)

Host institution: Mercator Ocean International (France)

Ocean prediction is an essential element across the objectives, challenges, and outcomes of the Decade and the modelling community is involved in numerous programmes designed to drive the innovation needed to achieve Decade goals.  A systematic approach and strong levels of coordination and cooperation are needed to foster collaborations across these many separate-but-interdependent modelling and forecasting activities, to achieve the goals of the Decade and to lay the foundations of a Global Ocean Prediction System as a legacy of the Decade.

The OceanPrediction DCC is a cross-cutting structure that will work at the global scale to develop collaboration between Decade Actions related to ocean prediction together with relevant organisations’ structuring initiatives across Decade Challenges 2 – Protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversity, 3 – Sustainably feed the global population, 4 – Develop a sustainable and equitable ocean economy, 5 – Unlock ocean-based solutions to climate change, 6 – Increase community resilience to ocean hazards, 7 – Expand the global ocean observing system, 8 – Create a digital representation of the Ocean, 9 – Skills, knowledge and technology for all.

The OceanPrediction DCC will facilitate the structuring and engagement of the ocean prediction community through a collective framework to be established with partners around a common vision and agenda, standardized methods, mutually reinforcing activities that cut across programmes, silos and value-chain elements, and open, continuous communications.

The OceanPrediction DCC will also unite Decade and non-Decade programmes and organizations to develop and implement joint training, outreach, and capacity development activities for global and regional engagement.

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Contact: Enrique ALVAREZ, Director of OceanPrediction DCC, ealvarez@mercator-ocean.fr

Decade Collaborative Centre for Ocean-Climate Nexus and Coordination amongst Decade Implementing Partners in P.R. China (DCC-OCC)

Host institution: First Institute of Oceanography (FIO) of the Ministry of Natural Resources of China, in partnership with the International CLImate VAriability Research Project Office (CLIVAR-ICPO), the China National Marine Data and Information Service (NMDIS), the China National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center (NMEFC), the China National Satellite Ocean Application Service (NSOAS), and the Regional Training and Research Center on Ocean Dynamics and Climate (RTRC-ODC)

The DCC-OCC will engage in generating new knowledge and solutions for the ocean-climate nexus to mitigate and build resilience against climate change and communicate the information with a wide range of stakeholders. This will be achieved through identifying and filling data and knowledge gaps of ocean-climate relationship; evaluating and screening for the most effective model testbed schemes; coordinating relevant stakeholders nationally and globally; capacity building; sharing and communicating results, best practices, and data products.

Also, a strong mobilization of Chinese institutions has allowed the creation of various Decade Implementing Partners. Local coordination of these partners will allow their efficient contribution to the Ocean Decade. As a second mission, the DCC-OCC will therefore coordinate the Decade Implementing Partners based in China, in partnership with the Chinese National Decade Committee.

Contact: dcc-occ@fio.org.cn

Ocean Visions – UN Decade Collaborative Centre for Ocean-Climate Solutions (OV – UN DCC)

Host institutions: Ocean Visions, Georgia Tech, and the Georgia Aquarium (United States of America)

The primary focus of this DCC is on leading and supporting processes to co-design, develop, test, and ultimately deploy scalable, equitable ocean-based solutions to mitigate and reverse the effects of climate change (Challenge 5).

To advance this mission, this Collaborative Centre will engage with a global set of stakeholders and institutions to connect those with the capacity for generating new science and engineering knowledge to those with capacity to develop and test innovations and solutions.

OV – UN DCC will coordinate across all regions and ocean basins Decade Actions focused on ocean-based solutions to ameliorating climate change, enhancing food security (Challenge 3), and building the climate resiliency of critical marine ecosystems and coastal communities (Challenges 2 and 6).

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Contact: Courtney MCGEACHY, OV – UN DCC Director, courtney@oceanvisions.org

Regional DCOs and DCCs

Decade Coordination Office for the Western Pacific

Host institution: IOC-WESTPAC Office, with the support of the Government of Thailand

Hosted within the IOC Sub-Commission for Western Pacific and fully supported by Thailand, the WESTPAC Decade Coordination Office will coordinate Decade Actions across all Ocean Decade Challenges in the Western Pacific region and its adjacent areas. It will assure the creation of synergies and links between existing Decade Actions, catalyse new Decade Actions, and coordinate monitoring and evaluation of Decade progress in the region.

Contact: iocwestpac@unesco.org

Decade Collaborative Centre for the Northeast Pacific Ocean (DCC-NEPO)

Host institution: Tula Foundation (Canada)

The Northeast Pacific Ocean Basin is one of the most productive regions on Earth, hosting rich biodiversity from the coastline, to the open ocean, to the deep sea, and supporting human communities for millennia. Many networks of research and observing organizations, industries, government entities, and coastal communities are already working to inform sustainable development related to the ocean. In addition, there is increased recognition of the importance of elevating Indigenous and other under-served communities in co-developing and mobilizing ocean knowledge for sustainable development.

Improved coordination of these diverse programs and partners is needed to launch new initiatives and support implementation of the Ocean Decade. This Decade Collaborative Centre will help support coordination as well identify best practices, principles, and lessons that can be applied in other regions around the globe.

DCC-NEPO will work across all ten Ocean Decade Challenges in the Northeast Pacific region, with a particular focus on supporting and mobilizing participation by Indigenous peoples and local communities and the development of Indigenous-led Decade Actions.

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Contact: oceandecade@tula.org

Decade Collaborative Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (DCC-IOR)

Host institution: Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India

The Indian Ocean Region is home to over one fifth of humanity, ranging from the east coast of Africa, to coast of western Australia and from the southern continental coast of Asia to Antarctic waters. Marine spatial planning is only used by a small number of nations and the region is relatively poorly charted outside of the EEZs.

Fisheries is a major industry, supplying essential protein to the region and to markets further afield, but many species are over-exploited and controls in areas beyond national jurisdiction are weak.

Tsunami is a significant geohazards in the region, with a well-developed regional tsunami warning system, and climate change is the greatest additional challenge.

DCC-IOR will have a regional focus for the entire Indian Ocean Region. It will deliver the resources, skills and expertise to work with a diverse international community to help them deliver Decade Actions, create new ones, and catalyse the change that is needed to address the challenges in this very significant part of the global ocean.

DCC-IOR will contribute to all ten thematic Ocean Challenges in the Indian Ocean Region, with a particular focus on the following Challenges that have been identified as priorities for the region: 3 – Sustainably feed the global population,6 – Increase community resilience to ocean hazards, 7 – Expand the global ocean observing system and 9 – Skills, knowledge and technology for all.

Contact: Srinivas KUMAR, Director of INCOIS, srinivas@incois.gov.in