Capacity Development
Photo credit: Fabrice Dudenhofer / Ocean Image Bank
Webinars Hub
The Webinars Hub builds knowledge, skills, and professional capacity across the ECOP community, organizing free regular webinars on a diverse range of topics reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of ocean science. Central to this mission is the principle of inclusivity, ensuring that ECOPs, regardless of geographical location, sector, or background, can access valuable knowledge to upgrade their skills and connect with international ocean-related organizations from the comfort of their location.
Topics include:
- Ocean science and technology (e.g., underwater acoustics, marine robotics, drones, remote sensing),
- Data and digital skills (e.g., ArcGIS, ocean data management, satellite applications),
- Policy and governance (e.g., Blue Economy, Ocean Decade frameworks),
- Career development (e.g., scientific writing, funding opportunities, NGO development),
- Sustainability and ecosystems (e.g., blue carbon, seagrass restoration, plastics pollution),
- Science communication and outreach (e.g., SciArt, citizen science, ocean literacy).
These efforts have enabled global accessibility, particularly for ECOPs in underrepresented regions, reinforcing equity in capacity development and contributing to bridging gaps between science, policy, and society, aligning with the Ocean Decade’s vision of actionable ocean knowledge.
The Hub welcomes organizations and individual speakers to share their work with our audience and invites them to fill in this form to express their interest in presenting at our webinars.
For more information on the whole webinars portfolio, including webinars in languages other than English, please visit this page: https://www.ecopdecade.org/webinars/.
BlueCaD
The Blue Capacity Development (BlueCaD) project of the ECOP Programme provides free and accessible trainings for ECOPs on generation, sharing and management of ocean data and information, for science and sustainable development. Through specialized courses related to ocean science, the project empowers ECOPs from diverse backgrounds with professional techniques of data collection, data management and information sharing.
The BlueCaD Project specifically facilitates blended technical courses in Remote Sensing, GIS, R, Python and Ocean Data View. These courses introduce ECOPs to ocean data processing, analysis and visualization in a more powerful way using open-source software and programming languages. Relevant oceanographic (physical, chemical and biological) and fisheries datasets are used in the training, making it easy to relate, understand and apply the course concepts. These opportunities enhance inclusivity through working with ECOPs outside research and academia on simple techniques of ocean observation which might not involve complex scientific concepts.
This approach helps in reducing barriers among underrepresented groups and enhances innovation among ECOPs from various ocean basins. Overall, this ensures accuracy and usability of the collected data as well as replicability of the methods.
For more information about past activities and to contact the coordinating team of the project please visit this page: https://www.ecopdecade.org/bluecadproject/.
CD Hub Central America
The Capacity Development (CD) Hub of the ECOP Central America node centralizes ECOP Programme capacity development efforts in Central America, enabling co-design, sharing, and collaboration through seminars, training sessions, and mentoring. This initiative enables Central American ECOPs to access information and knowledge, helping overcome national, regional, and global barriers, fostering language inclusion in the co-creation of initiatives.
The Hub will provide capacity, skills, and knowledge for enhanced ocean observation, policy, and conservation. The Hub welcomes regional NGOs, governmental institutions, the school system, and the local community to collaborate on expanding knowledge for initiatives that help reduce barriers among different groups.
Focus Areas of the Hub:
- Development of seminars on key themes relevant to the Central America region and ECOPs;
- Online or in-person training courses/modules in Ocean Science, Ocean Literacy, Ocean Policy and Equity, and Science Communication;
- Participation in events and symposia showcasing current topics of high interest in Central America and globally;
- Tailored mentoring programs that support and strengthen ECOPs’ capacity building.
For more information on the activities of the CD Central America Hub please visit this page: https://www.ecopdecade.org/capacity-development-hub-central-america/.
CD Hub Africa
The Capacity Development (CD) Hub of the ECOP Africa Node comprises an innovative platform to provide effective professional opportunities to the ECOP Africa node members focusing on capacity building activities in ocean-related subjects. The vision of the Hub is to become a collective platform of research institutions/business aiming to provide important professional opportunities for the Africa node members.
The main objectives of the Hub are:
- Offer dedicated and frequent virtual and/or in-person training for the members;
- Facilitate multidisciplinary and collaborative partnership of research and business institutions;
- Accelerate information sharing of professional opportunities and recruitment in Africa.
The beneficiaries of the CD Hub are the Africa node members, including scientists, students, artists, media, fishing and aquaculture actors, government officials, conservationists; as well as representatives of the Academia focusing on the exchange of human and structural resources, best practices and scientific and technical collaborations, and the business sector interested in recruitment of personnel and promoting their meaningful commitment with the Ocean Decade.
The CD Hub is structured in five themed programmes, in which the related activities will fall under:
- Climate Change Adaptation;
- Blue Economy;
- Ocean Innovation and Entrepreneurship;
- Marine Biodiversity and Conservation;
- Marine Innovation.
For any inquiries, please contact the coordinators of the CD Africa Hub, Lawrence Dogli and Elizabeth Okullow, at capacity.development_africa@ecopdecade.org.