[2022/09/05] We are conducting a pre-Workshop rating of priority actions. For that, we opened the survey and rating of Priority Actions to reduce current and future Marine Debris in the Marine Debris Virtual Community Center (VCC) at https://www.place4us.net/MarineDebris. The resulting priority actions will be used at the workshop as a starting point for our deliberations. Please, do submit your priority actions even if you are not able to participate in the workshop. To participate in the survey and rating you have to sign up at the VCC Reception, login, and then use the Elevator to get to Floor 10 "Participatory Modeling". Enter the floor, and then click on [Ratings] in the leftside menu. Open the one rating. Until September 16, 2022, we are collecting priority actions, and the rating will take place afterwards. Additional priority actions can be submitted when the rating is alread going on. Please, submit you priority actions ...
[2022/05/10] Registration is open. See Logistics for details or go directly to the [Workspace] to register.
Goals and Scope
The 2022 workshop is a follow-up of the first two Brest Workshops on "Technologies for Observing and Monitoring Plastics in the Oceans" in 2018 and "Marine Debris Indicators: What’s Next?" in 2019.
This third workshop is a participatory workshop aiming at the broadening of our community and the identification of priority actions that we want to implement after the workshop. The objective of the workshop is to assess options for the prevention of marine litter entering the ocean and the reduction of marine litter — in particular plastics — in the ocean. Bringing together a wide range of stakeholders, we will identify priorities for a cleaner ocean and develop action plans for these priorities. These priority actions will be integrated into the refined road map developed during the first two workshops. A workshop statement will make recommendations to major institutions and funding agencies based on the priority identified and action plans developed by the workshop participants.
This workshop follows the IEEE special session entitled "Marine Litter: Solutions for Monitoring, Mitigation and Prevention" taking place on Sept 27, 2022 during the Sea Tech Week®, Sept. 26-30 2022, in BREST, France.
Previous Workshops
The November 2018 workshop on “Technologies for Observing and Monitoring Plastics in the Oceans” focused on technology initiatives able to address the mounting global marine debris with particular focus on plastics in the ocean. A main challenge addressed was the development of a methodology for monitoring marine debris indictors, in particular the Indicator 14.1.1 “Index of coastal eutrophication and floating plastic debris density” of SDG 14 “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.” The major outcome of this workshop was a set of activities and goals for six months, two years and 5 years, which provided an initial road map (see Garello et al., 2019).
The December 2019 workshop on “Marine Debris Indicators: What's Next” brought together experts on observations and monitoring of marine debris and plastic with decision and policy makers in need of comprehensive information on this challenge. A main goal was to converge towards common best practices and potential standards. With relevant stakeholders present, the workshop fostered a collaborative network to ensure that evidence-based decision and policymaking are possible. The workshop explored the potential for a platform linking the data to actions and develop an implementation strategy for observing networks and modeling platforms to support conjointly the different efforts to address the global challenge of marine debris. The draft road map compiled in 2018 was augmented with more detailed six-months activities and a case study on “Reducing Plastics in the Ocean within a Growing Global Economy: Understanding the Information Needs to Support Interventions” was initiated. This case study would prepare the current workshop.
Pre-Workshop Activities
Workshop participants and other stakeholders are asked to identify their priorities and to share them before the workshop. A form will be available from September 1, 2022 in the Marine Debris Virtual Community Center (https://www.place4us.net/MarineDebris) to submit priorities. This form will allow for a rating of priorities by all registered users of the Marine Debris VCC. For the workshop, the rating outcomes will be used to have a starting set of priorities.
We are also developing a white paper on citizen science within the wider field of marine debris. This paper is also developed in the Marine Debris VCC. Workshop participants interested in contributing to this paper can express their interest in the Marine Debris VCC in the Chat room on Citizen Science.
Participation
The workshop will bring together a broad range of stakeholders from the Earth observation communities, research communities assessing the intermediate and longterm impacts of marine debris, United Nations and national agencies engaged in progress towards SDG 14, businesses that are aiming to tackle various aspects of the problem of marine debris, as well as, experts working at the interfaces between these communities with the goal to ensure that useable knowledge required for policy making and planning of action to address the challenge of marine debris is created and well linked to the decision makers.
Workshop Outcomes
The main outcomes of the workshop will be a white paper identifying priorities for actions that could lead to a cleaner ocean. This white paper will also assess knowledge needs related to these priority actions and consider options for interventions that address these priorities. Among others, the white paper will also summarize the current state of knowledge concerning options for a clean ocean, identify emerging technologies and technology needs, and make recommendations to relevant stakeholders (agencies, companies, researchers) concerning systemic and technology developments to tackle the challenge of marine litter. The priority actions identified by the workshop participants will be integrated into the road map that was developed during the first two workshops.
A workshop statement will concisely point out the priorities and make recommendations for actions that can address these priorities. A workshop report will document the workshop proceeds and provide detailed background for the workshop recommendations.
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