The Online Ocean Governance Course “Ocean Governance for Sustainable Marine Social-Ecological Systems” hosted by IOI Germany and the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) was completed this November. This highly successful format, originally introduced by Werner Ekau (former Director, IOI Germany) has now been passed to Achim Schlüter (Co-Lead of Programme Area 1: Coastal Resources and Sustainable Blue Economy) and Tim Jennerjahn (Co-Lead of Programme Area 3: Land-Ocean Fluxes and Transformation) as the two main organisers on behalf of IOI Germany.
This year, the course welcomed 40 participants, with a balanced gender ratio and a diverse mix of regional, organisational, and disciplinary backgrounds, as well as representation from multiple career levels. This diversity is crucial for fostering an enriching learning environment and encouraging robust exchanges.
Rather than focusing on Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs), the year’s course centred on various blue economy strategies as topics for group work, allowing participants to apply the knowledge they acquired throughout the course. Most lecturers from previous years agreed to return and participate in this year's course and new lecturers were welcomed, including Pradeep Singh from RIFS (Research Institute for Sustainability - Helmholtz Centre Potsdam) and Jailin Zhang and Raymond Ayilu from ZMT, to diversify perspectives.