Since 2018, the University of Bergen (UiB) has served as a hub for the UN’s work on Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water. UiB has held this designation for three terms. The UN has now announced that this mandate will be extended through 2030.
Source: Ntb.no
This means that UiB will continue to play a leading global role in promoting greater understanding of the ocean over the next four years. This also coincides with the conclusion of both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Decade of Ocean Science.
“This only underscores that the systematic, long-term work UiB has done in marine research and education continues to attract international attention,” says Rector Margareth Hagen, adding:
– It also provides extra motivation for the work that UiB and our partners—locally, nationally, and globally—are doing to highlight the ocean’s importance for sustainable development. Not least, it is also inspiring now that the entire city of Bergen has rallied to bring an international ocean conference to Bergen in 2030.
READ ALSO: Bergen will compete to host the Ocean Decade conference in 2030: – We must work purposefully now
UiB Takes on an International Leadership Role
Professor Katja Enberg, who is in charge of the work on Sustainable Development Goal 14 at the University of Bergen (UiB), extends her thanks to the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), which administers the program that designates universities to take responsibility for each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
“We are proud and delighted that the UN and UNAI have once again placed their trust in us to lead the global effort to raise awareness of Sustainable Development Goal 14 and the importance that life in the ocean also has for life on land,” says Enberg, adding:
– UiB has a strong marine focus across many faculties and departments, and I hope that our international leadership role will also encourage even closer internal collaboration.
Two new Ocean Decade Actions
UiB’s position as a leading university in the effort to promote a sustainable ocean is underscored by two recent designations as “Ocean Decade Actions,” awarded by the UN Decade of Ocean Science. Both of these new projects originated at UiB’s Department of Biosciences (BIO).
“We wanted to join the UN Decade of Ocean Science because we believe we can help generate vital knowledge in the fight against pollution and for a cleaner ocean, which is the Decade’s top priority,” says Professor Anders Goksøyr, whose project“Whales and Polar Bears in a Petri Dish (external link)” has been granted Ocean Decade Action status.
Learn more about Goksøyr’s research in the video“From Sea to Lab (external link).”
– The fact that a project such asDRIFT – Systematically rethinking advection and cross-ecosystem subsidies (external link)receives such recognition from the UN Decade of Ocean Science clearly demonstrates that basic research is a central part of the vision behind the slogan ‘The Science We Need for the Ocean We Want,’ says researcher Tom Langbehn, who leads the project“Food Conveyor Belts in the Ocean (external link).”
This brings the total number of Ocean Decade Actions at UiB to four, which is more than any other Norwegian university currently has. The two previous Actions are the groundbreaking Norway-Pacific Ocean-Climate (N-POC) partnership PhD program and the innovative Shaping (SEAS) program. Both of these programs involve research and education across most of the faculties at UiB.
“We are incredibly proud that the full scope of our marine research and education is being recognized in this way directly by the UN. This is also closely linked to our reappointment as a global hub for Sustainable Development Goal 14. We promise to continue to prove ourselves worthy of this honor through our partnerships for the ocean in the years to come,” says Rector Margareth Hagen.
