Ocean Future Lab

The oceans provide oxygen for breathing and food for more than a third of humanity. They provide work and recreation, are a place of longing as well as a fascinating habitat rich in species, they regulate the climate and slow down man-made global warming. The future of mankind is directly linked to the fate of the oceans. However, climate change, pollution and overexploitation are creating ever greater problems for marine habitats.

How can we manage the coasts, seas and oceans in a sustainable way that preserves our natural resources? What does a desirable future with the oceans look like? These questions were the focus of the Ocean Future Lab, in which citizens worked together with artists and scientists to develop ideas and impulses for a desirable future for our blue planet. The Ocean Future Lab was created as a project in the Science Year 2022 – Participate!

Healthy oceanS – Healthy people

The ideas for the future reflect the desire to live in harmony with the oceans. Healthy oceans, intact marine ecosystems and clean water are important prerequisites for the long-term well-being of the people who live by and on the sea – but not only for them. The “state of health” of marine nature has far-reaching significance and is also vital for life on land. Marine conservation is therefore a core value that must always be taken into account.

Protect effectively

Education plays a very important role in concepts for the future. The oceans should be made tangible in order to show their importance for life on land. The basis for this is the realization that we only want to protect what we know and value. An important point in the discussions was therefore to convey a sustainable way of life at sea in the form of ecotourism, for which various ideas and approaches were discussed. Lifelong learning is a key point. With the help of marine platforms, transparency and education should encourage people to change life on land with the aim of protecting the oceans in the long term. Humanity is dependent on an intact natural environment.

The ecological aspect is given very high priority by the participants. This was also confirmed by the feedback form that was completed after each workshop. In it, participants were also asked about topics that are important to them and what their biggest concerns are. Almost all of the feedback concerned the marine environment. The exploitation of the oceans and the deep sea, the loss of animal and plant species, the consequences of climate change for the oceans and, as a result, for people, and the large amount of waste in the ocean were mentioned. These concerns are also reflected in the future scenarios, combined with efforts to find solutions and steer towards a desirable future.

Sustainable use

In addition to marine conservation as a value in its own, the participants also discussed practical implementation. The oceans will continue to be used by humans in the future, with a focus on respectful and sustainable use. In a vision of the future, advanced (bio)technology will make it possible to live on the sea, with the central idea being that technology uses nature without exploiting or overexploiting it. The ideas based on this aim to create a circular economy, for example by developing a “super algae”. Energy is generated in a climate-friendly way using hydrogen and wind power.

Applied science therefore plays an important role in many of the proposals. It researches how coexistence with the oceans and a corresponding circular economy work and how healthy oceans can be guaranteed in the long term. The idea is that marine living environments are pioneers for sustainable living that link the economy and nature for the benefit of both and from which others can learn.

Shaping community

Linked to the economic ideas are notions of a self-sufficient life: People generate their own energy, have their own education systems with lots of free time, and share as much as possible. Similar keywords come up again and again: cosmopolitan, international, peaceful, shared. There are specific rules for living at sea, all people are welcome and there is no isolation. The idea of participation is important: everyone contributes according to their abilities and benefits from the community.

Life at sea seems to offer inspiration for new ways of living together. It reflects a longing to break out of what are perceived as narrow everyday structures and to dare to try something new. To realize the vision of a self-defined “good life”, in the sense of “everything is possible”. In the case of the workshop participants, this was linked to the version of a sustainable life in harmony with nature in general and the sea in particular.

Conclusion

There is a promise of freedom in the blue expanses of our planet – a feeling that anything is possible. They reflect the desire to live in harmony with nature. All living things are given a very high priority and the seas and oceans are seen as a source of power and life without which we cannot survive. However, this is not to be understood as a romanticized view, as the use of (bio)technologies and sustainable energy sources and resources to establish a self-sufficient circular economy is also considered in a very practical way. The form of coexistence is also considered, whereby community and living in unity with nature are values in themselves.

Desire and reality

These values are not the focus of current marine spatial planning, which gives a lot of space to economic needs and uses such as shipping, fishing and, currently, energy generation from offshore wind power. Germany, for example, has placed 45 percent of its marine area under protection. Nevertheless, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea are not in a good ecological condition.

The impulses from the Ocean Future Lab are an invitation to view the oceans not primarily as an economic area, but to perceive them more strongly as a habitat that must be preserved, not least for our own well-being. Healthy coasts, seas and oceans are our livelihood and the basis for our health. A study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment in May 2023 also shows how good a stay by the sea is: people are healthier when they live near the sea or spend longer periods of time there. A Viennese research team from the field of environmental psychology surveyed more than 15,000 people from 15 countries and found that The more often people spent time by the sea, the healthier they were, regardless of their income. The study was carried out as part of an EU project investigating the opportunities and risks of oceans for human health.

This finding is not new. However, it is necessary in order to stimulate discussions on how we can think about and implement economic forms of use and marine protection together. Climate protection and nature conservation must not be played off against each other. Ecosystem services, climate impacts and recreational needs must be taken into account in planning in order to shape a desirable future with the oceans.