Photo credit: Shaun Wolfe / Ocean Image Bank
How to get involved in the UN Ocean Decade?
Have you been navigating around our website and started thinking that the UN Ocean Decade is really cool and you want to get involved further? Wondering how you can have your Action be endorsed under the UN Ocean Decade? This page is dedicated to giving you the information you might need to do exactly that. Follow our step-by-step guide below!
Step 1. Learn about the UN Ocean Decade Framework
It's best to start at the very beginning and have a good overview of the entire UN Ocean Decade framework.
If you need to go back to our previous page to reacquaint yourself with the UN Ocean Decade vision, mission, 10 challenges and 7 outcomes: click here.
The UN Ocean Decade is working on a global, regional and local level, across multiple themes, through many partnerships and within a strategic timeframe – in order to co-design solutions to achieve the science we need for the ocean we want by 2030.
We highly recommend signing up to the Ocean Decade Network, which is the forum that you can access through the Ocean Decade website. On this Network platform, you can liase with other members and stakeholders, find events or opportunities and use many helpful other resources. You can also learn about other UN Ocean Decade Actions, and how they are categorized.
National Decade Committees are set up to coordinate, support and increase a country’s participation in the Ocean Decade by mobilizing the whole “ocean community” at the national level. To date, 37 countries have established a National Decade Committee. Find out if your county has a National Decade Committee here.
Decade Collaborative Centres (DCCs) and Decade Coordination Offices (DCOs) provide targeted support to the Ocean Decade through a coordination and catalysis role for Decade Actions at the regional or thematic level. DCCs and DCOs also proactively support the Ocean Decade Communities of Practice that correspond to their thematic or regional focus, facilitating their structuring, membership and active engagement via the Ocean Decade Network.
Decade Implementing Partners (DIPs) are stakeholder institutions, networks or groups whose vision, mission or mandate align with the priorities of the Ocean Decade. Unlike Decade Collaborative Centres (DCCs) and Decade Coordination Offices (DCOs), DIPs sit outside the regional/thematic governance and coordination structure and provide targeted support to the Decade.
Step 2. Decide where your Action fits within the framework
Depending on the scope of your Action (whether it is short/long term, incorporating one or more partners, working across countries or regions) you will need to match it to the appropriate category. Here are the categories:
Activities are one-off events, webinars, conferences, workshops, publications, and at times, creative outputs such as poster competitions and postal stamps. They are typically 1-28 days long, and at maximum are one year. This form will let you request the Ocean Decade logo to be used for the activity proposed specifically.
Endorsed events (which includes webinars, conferences, exhibits, and workshops) will be shared on the Ocean Decade Network by the Decade Team. Members may share any events as well, as long as they are a maximum of one month in length. If you are hosting a multi-month or multi-year campaign, please share your individual activities or events rather than the entire campaign.
Read the guidance notes and sign up to the Ocean Decade Network, when you are ready to submit your application (it is recommended to apply at least 6 weeks in advance).
Contributions are accepted on a rolling basis, at any time. Contributions are in-kind or financial contributions to the coordination functions of the Decade or to Decade Actions. This includes Decade Collaborative Centres or Decade Implementing Partners.
For any contribution we suggest that you reach out to: oceandecade@unesco.org to discuss it first. All contributions will be able to use the logo once endorsed.
Learn more about Contributions through our ECOP focal points.
Programmes and projects are solicited through regular Calls for Decade Actions every 6 months throughout the Decade.
The Call for Decade Actions No. 07/2024 is now open for submissions until 31 August 2024.
Programmes are large-scale initiatives implemented at the global or regional scale and will contribute to the achievement of one or more of the Ocean Decade Challenges. They will be long-term, multi-year, and typically interdisciplinary and multi-national. They should be comprised of component projects, which may or may not be fully or partially defined at the time of endorsement.
Projects are discrete and focused undertakings. They may be regional, national or subnational and will typically contribute to an identified Ocean Decade programme. Once endorsed programmes and projects will be provided guidance on logo use.
Learn about Programmes with our ECOP focal points.
If your Action is a discrete and focused undertaking, and it is obviously aligned with Early Career Ocean Professionals, providing them with various capacity development and networking opportunities, and overall corresponds to the mission of the ECOP Programme, then you can apply to be affiliated with the ECOP Programme as a project, just like our eight endorsed projects.
Contact us to learn more.
Step 3. Get ready apply to the Call for Decade Actions No. 07/2024
The Call for Actions No. 07/2023 is now open.
The current Call for Decade Actions is soliciting Decade Actions in three different parts. The figure below provides a diagram summarizing the main of the components of the Call, including the main deadlines. Interested parties should complete and submit the relevant online “Request for Endorsement” form. Note that there are several different online forms and different deadlines depending on the type of Action you are submitting. Please ensure that you complete the online form that corresponds to the type of Decade Action for which you are seeking endorsement and that you carefully check the relevant submission dates.
During review of the requests for endorsement received during the Call for Decade Actions, the Decade Coordination Unit may contact proponents to discuss the proposal, suggest modifications, or make connections to other parties working on similar issues. As such, interested parties are encouraged to submit their requests as soon as possible.
Part I: Expression of interest for Decade Programmes
Via this call, applicants will be able to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for a potential Decade Programme proposal for any of the 10 Decade Challenges, and that contributes to the priorities identified inThe Barcelona Statement.
Please note: If successful, the applicant will be invited to submit a full proposal by 31 August 2024. Invitations to submit a full proposal will be sent by 1 June 2024.
Part II: Decade Projects
At the Project level, the Call is soliciting initiatives that potentially can form part of one of the 26 endorsed Decade Programmes participating in the Call for Decade Actions. The list of relevant Programmes and their contact details can be found in Annex I of the Guidance Note for Applicants for Call for Decade Actions No. 07/2024.
Applicants should contact the relevant Programme before submitting their request for endorsement.
The deadline to submit applications for Decade Projects is 31 August 2024 23:59h UTC.
Part III: Decade Contributions
Submissions of financial or in-kind resources to support: (i) priority in-kind or financial needs of one the 23 endorsed Decade Programmes participating in this Call; (ii) current needs of Decade Collaborative Centres and Decade Coordination Offices, and support to the establishment of new structures; and (iii) capacity development initiatives through the Ocean Decade Capacity Development Facility;
For more information on how to submit to any of the components of this part of the Call, please consult Annexes II, III and IV of the Guidance Note for Applicants for Call for Decade Actions No. 07/2024.
The deadline to submit applications for Decade Contributions is 31 August 2024 23:59h UTC.
Step 4. Check out these Ocean Decade resources
Catch up on the Call for Decade Actions No. 05/2023
Want to learn more about the process itself? Check out the latest stats from April 2024 and the recorded information session about Call No. 05 with Alison Clausen, Programme Specialist at IOC-UNESCO.
Listen to the Voices from the Ocean Decade Advisory Board
Learn more about the vision behind the UN Ocean Decade from The Decade Advisory Board – an advisory body to UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The fifteen experts selected by the IOC-UNESCO serve for a period of two years and in their individual capacities. The 2022-2023 Advisory Board members hail from thirteen countries, and come from government, private sector, philanthropy, civil society and the scientific community.