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Marine Litter: Solutions for a Cleaner Ocean
September 28-29, 2022, Brest, France

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.

Committees

Workshop Program Committee


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Logistics

Registration

Registration is now open until September 28, 2022. The workshop is open to all but registration is compulsory. When you register, please indicate if you will attend in-person or online by September 1, 2022. All registered participants will be sent the Zoom link by email in advance of the workshop.

To register for this workshop, please sign up for the workspace using the link WORKSPACE. After signing up for this collaborative workspace, you will be able to login, populate your personal profile and register for the workshop. Signing up for the workshop worksape will give you also access to the workspace of the IEEE/OES "Plastic in the Ocean" Inititiative.

There will be no registration fee for this workshop. The meals (coffee breaks and lunch) will be provided during the workshop. Therefore, it is important for logistical reasons to get an accurate count of in-person participation.

Contributions to the workshop

Note that this workshop is for the most parts a participatory workshop and active contribution from all participants is expected. Most of the few presentations will be invited keynotes. There is limited space for additional oral presentations. If you want to propose a presentation, please submit a title and abstract on the workshop contribution page. Then the organizers will decided whether the paper can be included in the program.

Note that all workshop participants will be asked to prepare a very brief personal presentation for the initial Session. See in the Workspace for details.

If you are signed up for the workshop, you can participate in all on-line conversations in the workshop before and during the Workspace.

Venue

The workshop will take place at the Pôle Numérique Brest Iroise (PNBI). The address is 305 Avenue Alexis de Rochon, 29280 Plouzané, France. For more information, see https://www.toutendroit.com/en/article-pole-numerique-brest-iroise-pnbi-679022.

Travel Logistics

You can find a lot of information on Brest and around (english is possible) at https://www.brest-metropole-tourisme.fr/.

Accommodation

There are many suitable hotels in the center of Brest. Most on-line booking services provide for easy booking opportunties for these hotels.

Below is a list of recommended hotels. Booking one of these hotels will give the opportunity to share taxis to the workshop venue with other participants.

Meals

Lunch on the two days will be complementary. On September 28, 2022, workshop participants can participate in the Dinner of the @Sea Tech Week®. The cost for this dinner will be covered by the Workshop organizers.

Schedule and Program

Schedule

Time
Session Description
September 28, 2022
09:00-10:30
Chair(s): r.garello@ieee.org

Identifying Priorities

This session aims to identify our priorities within the areas of prevention and reduction of marine debris and to connect these to relevant stakeholders in the decision space.

Part 1: Place4Us and the Marine Debris Virtual Community Center

The Marine Debris Virtual Community Center (VCC) has been opened with the goal to increase collaboration across spatial scales from local to global and across domains from Earth observations and science to societal stakeholders. The VCC is hosted on the social collaboration platform Place4Us (https://www.place4us.net/MarineDebris). A main goal is to interest stakeholders in the Marine Debris Decision space to use and provide knowledge. Thus, bringing together local and regional groups with those that act on global scale.

Part 2: Group Work on Priorities

A participatory approach is used to come to a consensus on the priorities for the community. The discourse on priorities is based on what has already been identified and rated in on-line pre-workshop activities.

September 28, 2022
10:45-12:30
Chair(s): julienchupin.conseil@gmail.com

What are Our Strenghts and what Future do we want?

This session will review options and ask the questions of what is it that we do well and where are options not working. In group work, we will consider what works and where our strengths are. Based on that, participants will brainstorm to identify potential priority actions.

September 28, 2022
14:00-16:00
Chair(s): julienchupin.conseil@gmail.com

What do we want to do? Part 1: Group Work

Many interventions to mitigate and prevent marine litter have been proposed, developed and implemented. In this session, the participants first shortlist 10 priority actions and then build synthetic reports presenting each of them (e.g. what?, who?, how? when? how much?).

September 28, 2022
16:15-17:30
Chair(s): r.garello@ieee.org

What do we want to do? - Part 2: Group Reports

This session provides space for the groups to report on their work and for all participants to to clarify in the plenary questions that may arise concerning the 10 priority action reports.

September 29, 2022
09:00-10:30

Summary of Day 1 and Clarifications

This session will summarize day 1. Participants vote on the top 3 or 5 priority actions that are retained for effective implementation.

September 29, 2022
10:45-12:45
Chair(s): julienchupin.conseil@gmail.com

Parallel Group Work on Road Map, Workshop Statement, and Communication Plan

Sub-groups work in parrallel :
- refine the Road Map with the top 3 or 5 priority actions for the next six months,
- finalize the Workshop Statement,
- map key stakeholders and develop a Communication Plan.

September 29, 2022
13:30-15:15
Chair(s): julienchupin.conseil@gmail.com

Continuation of Parallel Group Work on Road Map, Workshop Statement, and Communication Plan

The sub-groups continue the work in parrallel.

September 29, 2022
15:30-17:00
Chair(s): r.garello@ieee.org

Workshop Summary, Evaluation and Conclusions

This final plenary session will provide a summary. Each sub-group work is presented and discussed in the plenary. The 3 workshop outputs are validated in plenary.
The mediator will provide a workshop evaluation and the main conclusions will be presented.

Program

September 28, 2022

09:00-10:30:Session 1 (Chair: Rene GARELLO): Identifying Priorities
09:00-09:10:Rene Garello and Hans-Peter Plag: Welcome: Place4Us and the Marine Debris Virtual Community Center
09:10-09:20:Rene Garello and Hans-Peter Plag: What are our main Priorities? Key messages on changes in decision landscape
09:20-09:30:Julien Chupin:
Groups of 2 persons:
a) exchange : name, country, function, mission/aim (I want to understand, I offer, I manage)
b) present their priority (prevention, reduction, citizen science) => why => opportunity/risk/ (quantify impact when possible)
09:30-10:10:Plenary
Julien Chupin: The animator present the results of the online work (results of the vote on the priorities)
- participants can ask for clarification
- participants can suggests new priorities
- if necessary a new vote is organized to make priorities
- the top 3 priorities are presented to the plenary

Parallel work to draft framework, in a matrix, to organised the priorities for action:
X:
- On prevention :
- On reduction :
- On citizen science :
- transversal
- Other
Y:
What are the solutions to promote?
Where we want to contribute (existing knowledge)?
Where do we want to investigate (create knowledge)?
10:10-10:30:Rene Garello and Hans-Peter Plag: Present specific changes in decision landscape related to the priorities
10:30-10:45:Morning Break
10:45-12:30:Session 2 (Chair: Unknown): What are Our Strenghts and what Future do we want?
10:45-12:30:Participants present the story of a project or solution they are proud of. This can be based on the priorities - or not - :
Groups turn individual stories into a collective summary of strengths and desired future

The focus is what the presenter is the most proud of.
A) Groups of 2: star interview:
  • Tell me about this project, solution, moment in your life, where you felt deeply engaged?
  • Which talents or strengths did you use during this experience?
  • What are you the most proud of? What make this experience so unique? How did you feel?
  • What are you wishes for the future

B) Groups of 6: the group story:
Each group summarise/create a story that represent the 6 individuals stories
  • Note all the strengths
  • Write a title

C) The same groups: wishes for the future (3 years to no limit)
  • Represent the desired future (metaphore)
12:30-14:00:Lunch Break
14:00-16:00:Session 3 (Chair: Unknown): What do we want to do? Part 1: Group Work
14:00-16:00:Write action document on priority actions
Recap morning: Decision landscape change, priorities, groups strengths and desired future

List required actions to make the future happen and address the 3 priorities
  1. individual ideas on post it (up to 3 ideas per person):
  2. present ideas in plenary : participants post idea on the framework:

    X:
    • On prevention :
    • On reduction :
    • On citizen science :
    • transversal
    • Other


    Y:
    What are the solutions to promote?
    Where we want to contribute (existing knowledge)?
    Where do we want to investigate (create knowledge)?

  3. vote for top 10 ideas
  4. Write an 'action document' on top 10 ideas (groups of 6)
16:00-16:15:Afternoon Break
16:15-17:30:Session 4 (Chair: Rene GARELLO): What do we want to do? - Part 2: Group Reports
16:15 - 16:20:Group 1 Report
16:20 - 16:25:Group 2 Report
16:25 - 16:30:Group 3 Report
16:30 - 16:35:Group 4 Report
16:35 - 16:40:Group 5 Report
16:40 - 16:45:Group 6 Report
16:45 - 16:50:Group 7 Report
16:50 - 17:30:Discussion

September 29, 2022

09:00-10:30:Session 5: Summary of Day 1 and Clarifications
09:00-09:15:Hans-Peter Plag: Recap of Day 1
09:15-09:45:Julien Chupin: Vote for top 3 to 5 actions
09:45-10:30:Organizing Committee: Questions to clarify the action documents
10:30-10:45:Morning Break
10:45-12:45:Session 6 (Chair: Unknown): Parallel Group Work on Road Map, Workshop Statement, and Communication Plan
10:45-12:45:Three groups will work in parallel:
  1. What is the consortium road map?: three sub-groups work on the action plan for the next six months:
    • Ordering
    • Responsibilities : lead, contributors
    • Budget (existing, to be found)
  2. What is our statement?: One group works on the statement that recap the 2 days:
    • deliverables
    • Priorities to be addressed
    • Vision(s) of the future
    • A road map with priority actions & (action plans)
    • Our strengths to make it happen
  3. Communication plan: One group works on reviewing the stakeholder mapping and developing a communication plan
12:45-13:30:Lunch Break
13:30-15:15:Session 7 (Chair: Unknown): Continuation of Parallel Group Work on Road Map, Workshop Statement, and Communication Plan
13:30-15:15:See Session 6 for description of this session.
15:15-15:30:Afternoon Break
15:30-17:00:Session 8 (Chair: Rene GARELLO): Workshop Summary, Evaluation and Conclusions
15:30-16:30:
  1. Results of the 3 parallel sessions are put together, and participants provide feedback and ask for clarification as appropriate:
    • Rapporteur 1: action plans
    • Rapporteur 2: workshop statement
    • Rapporteur 3: communication plan and stakeholders to engage with
  2. Working in the Marine Debris VCC is discussed
  3. Next date and timing to gather (online/physical) is identified
16:30-16:45:Julien Chupin: Evaluation
16:45-17:00:Rene Garello and Hans-Peter Plag: Workshop Conclusion

Other Information