Launching the UK Branch strand

At the UK Branch we have spent the last year researching and scoping ‘Valuing the Ocean’, a new strand of work focused on ocean conservation, which will play an integral part in the Gulbenkian Oceans Initiative (GOI), launched by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon in 2013.

‘Valuing the Ocean’ aims to help increase the capacity of the environmental sector to communicate the role of the ocean in human wellbeing, particularly through collaboration with others. A summary of the strand’s rationale, activities and intended outcomes can be downloaded here.

Our activities will complement and support the work of the GOI in Lisbon, which is focused on the economic valuation of marine ecosystem services, and centred on a specific pilot study in Portugal. The GOI will also facilitate a range of initiatives to increase public understanding of marine ecosystem services and promote policy action.

Here in the UK, we have decided to take a ‘laboratory’ approach. We will establish the ‘Marine CoLABoration’, providing the ‘space’ and resources for a small group of organisations to meet regularly over a two-year period to explore existing practice, identify and experiment with new. The LAB will have a particular interest in looking at how better to bridge the gaps between innovative local practice and influence at national and EU levels, and how to convey the intrinsic as well as socio-economic value of the sea.

Why a Marine CoLABoration? After wide consultation, commissioning research from Forum for the Future, and surveying the work of other funders, we believe this approach will play to our strengths, deliver on the overall UK Branch strategy, and meet clearly identified needs in the environmental sector.

Alongside the LAB, we may support a small number of outstanding initiatives which have the potential to increase the capacity of the sector to communicate and collaborate in significant ways.

If you would like to know more about our plans and how you might get involved, please have a look at the ‘Establishing a Marine CoLABoration’ information, which includes an ‘Expression of Interest’ application form. The deadline for completed applications is 31 May 2014.

Developing our strategy for the ‘Valuing the Ocean’ strand has only been possible because of the time, interest and expertise provided by many different individuals and organisations over the last year. Thank you all for your input. Whether or not we are able to provide direct support, we hope that our activities over the next three years will help to strengthen the power of the sector to effect change, and that you will continue to be interested and involved.

For more information, please email [email protected]. Please be aware that while we endeavour to respond to queries quickly, we are a small team and may not be able to reply immediately.