South Africa and Norway review oceans economy programme

With the deepening impact of climate change on the environment, particularly the oceans, ongoing research on marine life in collaboration with international partners is crucial.?

Norway and South Africa have had a scientific and technological partnership for over 20 years, co-funded by South Africa's Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), and implemented through the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Research Council Norway (RCN).

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In 2018, the two countries began cooperating on the South Africa-Norway Cooperation on Oceans Research (SANOCEAN) programme, which focused on the mutual priorities of blue economy, climate change, the environment and sustainable energy.

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SANOCEAN, which supported 10 collaborative projects, has now ended, and in September 2023 a conference was held in Oslo to take stock of the programme.? South African and Norwegian researchers and postgraduate students funded through SANOCEAN attended.

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One of the projects highlighted at the conference was the "Managing coastal resources for sustainable livelihoods" initiative, which built on 20 years of research into the movements of important estuary fish species. The project incorporated crucial, yet often overlooked, socio-cultural and socio-economic research, setting this project apart from anything previously done in this field of estuarine fisheries in South Africa.

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"If you understand the movement of the fish, you can better understand how to manage the fisheries," said Dr Taryn Murray, Instrument Scientist and Project Manager at the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity.

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Other SANOCEAN projects looked at the effects of seawater desalination on the coastal environment, the environmental impact of marine sewage outfalls, how microplastics in wastewater affect antibiotic resistance in oceans, the potential of various sea cucumber species for sustainable aquaculture, and how climate change is affecting phytoplankton communities (which absorb carbon dioxide) in the Southern Ocean.

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Dr Tor Fredrik N?sje, Senior Researcher and Project Manager from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, said, "We could not have completed this project without the involvement of students. They were vital participants of the field work." Eleven students, more than half of which were African and/or women, were involved in the SANOCEAN programme.

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Ms Eudy Mabuza, the DSI's Senior Science and Innovation Representative in Brussels, said that SANOCEAN highlighted how the programme had contributed to advancing the goals of South Africa's National Development Plan.

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"Projects within the SANOCEAN programme have contributed to solving issues relating to climate change, the environment and sustainable energy, which no country can solve on its own. ?Through the vision of the UN Ocean Decade, the projects have also provided valuable insights into crucial aspects of the global vision," said Mabuza.

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She emphasised that the two countries would continue to create long-term, high-level cooperative relationships through joint research projects, promoting gender balance in research communities as well as prioritising growing expertise in historically disadvantaged groups in South Africa.

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The funded research projects have been built around the principles of equal partnership and have significantly contributed to the national priorities of both countries," said Dr Prudence Makhura, Acting Executive Director, at the NRF.

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"With the history of socio-economic inequalities in South Africa and in the higher education system, the SANOCEAN programme purposefully prioritised historically disadvantaged institutions … without necessarily neglecting well-resourced universities. ?This has ensured a balance between equity considerations and scientific excellence, which is the core principle of this partnership."

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The speakers agreed that SANOCEAN had shown that cultural differences and geographical distance posed no barriers to meaningful collaboration if the partners shared the common values of respect, integrity and commitment to research excellence. ?These core values had defined and sustained South Africa's partnership with Norway for 21 years.

?"A clear testament to this great collaboration," said Ms Hildegunn Tobiassen, Counsellor, Royal Norwegian Embassy Pretoria, "is the fact that consultations on the new programme are progressing as planned with both the National Research Foundation and the Research Council of Norway going through big changes and with people central to the programme leaving. This proves to us that the programme's conception was based on sound principles."