The Institute for ocean sciences brings together a large number of scientists specialising in different disciplines, engineers, students and political and economic players with the aim of:

• Understanding the past and present state of our oceans, for a sustainable future
• Supporting knowledge of the oceans and informed governance processes
• Innovating for a circular blue economy and climate neutrality
• Ending pollution from source to sea
• Restoring the biodiversity of our oceans under harsh climates and anthropogenic pressures.

Objectives of the Institute for ocean sciences: the institute coordinates educational initiatives, skills enhancement and research excellence with the following objectives:

• Objective 1: strengthen interdisciplinary science to contribute to the blue digital transition of the ocean and water knowledge system to better understand, observe and predict the health and risks for our hydrosphere and coastal zones.
• Objective 2: create an international ocean knowledge coalition, building on our shared heritage and helping to improve governance and decision-making processes.
• Objective 3: promote science in support of sustainable blue economy solutions for circularity and climate neutrality.
• Objective 4: foster research excellence to regenerate our oceans and stop pollution by monitoring, evaluating and effectively implementing innovative prevention, elimination and clean-up measures, from source to sea.
• Objective 5: Support the coordination and testing of groundbreaking research to effectively govern, monitor, protect and restore ocean biodiversity under adverse anthropogenic and climatic conditions.

Challenges of the Institute for ocean sciences

CHALLENGE 1 - Improve knowledge and communication of present and past ecosystem dynamics, climate change impacts, vulnerability, resilience to natural and anthropogenic pressures, projected changes, services and mitigation:

• 1.1. Understand the dynamics of the ocean and how our ecosystems work
• 1.2. Understand pollution and climate impacts
• 1.3 Understand ocean-atmosphere interactions
• 1.4 Predict the relationship between ocean dynamics, biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems and services.
• 1.5 Adapt to climate change and define mitigation measures.
• 1.6 Accurately assess ocean resources and ecosystems over the long term (past, present, future)
• 1.7 Reverse the trend towards long-term overexploitation of marine ecosystems.

CHALLENGE 2 - Effective risk management and coastal zone protection:

• 2.1. Reduce the threat to coastal ecosystems and the negative impact on human activities
• 2.2. Assess, communicate and reduce coastal pollution risks
• 2.3. Predict coastal erosion and flooding for integrated coastal zone management
• 2.4. Improve decision-making support systems to ensure the sustainable management of port and maritime zones
• 2.5. Improve governance through scientifically-based MSPs and MPAs and improved legal procedures
• 2.6. Improve international partnerships through better communication and understanding of cultural and historical contexts.

CHALLENGE 3 - Contribute to the creation of a digital twin of our oceans through accessible and interoperable ocean data and observation systems:

• 3.1. Advance intelligent marine and maritime robotics systems
• 3.2. Customise sensors and platforms, integrating artificial intelligence to observe the ocean and its biodiversity
• 3.3. Intelligent marine and maritime safety and security systems
• 3.4. Ocean dynamics modelling and intelligent forecasting of ocean variables
• 3.5. Big data Passive acoustics for long-term, large-scale ocean monitoring
• 3.6. Advances in trajectography, tracking and automatic monitoring systems
   
  CHALLENGE 4 - Innovations in marine engineering for blue growth companies and governance based on society mastering the oceans:
• 4.1. Promote engineering for maritime transport and offshore structures as well as for marine renewable energies (MRE). Hydrodynamics and flows, swell and wave studies, optimisation of energy performance, materials, durability of offshore structures, offshore wind energy
• 4.2. Promote public-private partnerships to overcome certain obstacles to new activities, including new pollutant sensors, bioremediation measures and new processes (for plastics and emerging contaminants); retention planning in wastewater treatment systems, satellite data services
• 4.3. Establish strategies to encourage and facilitate the development of clusters in the ocean, in pollution, green materials development, data science, through research/industry federations
• 4.4. Provide scenarios of environmental change, studying the impact of ecological change on populations, alternative socio-economic development paths and blue growth
• 4.5. Pilot innovative methods for citizen and stakeholder engagement, open science, ocean literacy and ocean legal knowledge.