Major European report highlights need for integrated social and environmental science

The ‘Navigating the Future VI’ report was published by the European Marine Board with input from PML.

A more comprehensive evaluation of marine strategies, including ecological, economic, social, and cultural values, and the development of ‘innovation laboratories’ dedicated to Ocean policy issues are among the recommendations of a new report from the European Marine Board , which represents 38 Member organisations from 19 European countries.

Two years in the making, the ‘Navigating the Future VI’ (NFVI) report is designed to provide vital scientific advice to governments and policymakers at what represents a midpoint during the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) and the EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and waters (2021-2027).

Building on previous editions, the report considers the role of the Ocean in the wider Earth system, in relation to people (Chapter 2), climate (Chapter 3), fresh water (Chapter 4) and biodiversity (Chapter 5).

The report concludes that there is a need for increased research on multiple Ocean stressors, alongside substantial private financing for genuinely sustainable projects that avoid greenwashing. This must be supported by sustained long-term research funding and Ocean observations, with open, accessible digitized data integrated into Digital Twins of the Ocean.

The report also calls for increased technical and financial resources for monitoring; harmonized governance and standards across the land-coastal Ocean interface; and training for scientists and policymakers to work in a more transdisciplinary way, while maintaining specialist expertise in critical fields.

PML’s Professor Nicola Beaumont , Head of PML’s Sea and Society group (which is uniquely comprised of experts in economics, psychology, social and ecological science), was among the 33 experts from 16 European countries who collaborated on the report.

She said:

“The challenges our Ocean faces demand a fundamental shift from fragmented decision-making to integrated solutions. There is a pressing need for marine strategies to more formally include ecological, economic, social, and cultural values in order to better inform policies on things like marine protection, fisheries, and coastal planning.”

Professor Beaumont was among the co-authors of Chapter 2 (Ocean & People) which highlights the need for a “greater multi-scale, mechanistic understanding of how human activities are embedded in ecosystems to support ecosystem-based management.”

It notes that dues to the rapid changes in human activities and climate, research into these processes must consider mitigation and adaptation scenarios regarding the impacts of climate change on marine social-ecological systems.

It also suggests that decision-making ‘innovation laboratories’ dedicated to Ocean policy could be used to test the impacts of different strategies.

“The creation of innovation laboratories focused on Ocean policy would help support this holistic approach, serving as dynamic hubs where ecological, economic, social, and cultural considerations converge and enable us to craft more robust and inclusive marine governance frameworks.

At PML we’re already pioneering integrated natural and social science. This includes developing the first of its kind Marine Social and Natural Capital Laboratory . It’s this kind of approach which is vitally needed to understand the interconnectedness between people and the Ocean, in turn supporting improved decision-making.”

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More information

The full publication was launched in Brussels and is available at www.marineboard.eu/publications/nfvi

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About the European Marine Board (EMB)

Established in 1995 to facilitate enhanced cooperation between European marine science organisations towards a common vision on strategic research priorities, the European Marine Board (EMB) is an independent and self-sustaining science policy interface organisation representing 38 Member organisations from 19 European countries. www.marineboard.eu