Overview of tasks in work package 8
Two of the tasks (tasks 8.2 and 8.3) in work package 8 deals with training of and communication with stakeholders, e.g. fisheries industry and managers, and training and communication between the MEESO project partners. Activities include workshops, e-learning courses or webinars, survey videos, trial fishery guidelines and videos, etc.
The two remaining tasks (tasks 8.1 and 8.4) focus on outreach aiming at non-professionals and the general public, e.g. through popular science articles and social media.
Flows of information into and out of work package 8.
Task 8.1 Communicating existing knowledge and project results
Lead: Technical University of Denmark
The MEESO projects aims to facilitate a scientifically sound public and governmental discussion of the exploitation of new mesopelagic resources. A key task here is to raise awareness and support the uptake of project results among external stakeholders. This includes efficient dissemination of existing and new knowledge using a broad range of communication platforms.
Press releases will involve professional communication officers who will facilitate the production of broadcast output, contributions to newspaper articles, existing web platforms and social media, as well as the promotion of peer-reviewed and popular scientific articles.
Peer review by appropriate scientific communities will ensure quality standards. Peer-reviewed articles and scientific conference contributions will be made publicly available either via open-access or as pre-print versions in public repositories. The project will deliver a high number of scientific reports/manuscripts and technical reports as specified under the different work packages. Learn more under Outcomes.
This task will identify optimal existing communication platforms (e.g. news and broadcast platforms electronically and printed, scientific and popular scientific journals). In this way, MEESO will maximize communication and dissemination of the project approach and progress. This includes the production of website summaries of key MEESO research and developments linked to specific policy areas. These will be placed on the MEESO website with link to relevant existing EU and other websites and channels to ensure availability extending much beyond the project lifespan.
This task will also facilitate the internal project communication and ensure an efficient and collaborative approach to all tasks and project activities. There is a strong interdependence between work packages in the project. To ensure smooth communication, knowledge transfer and data flow, anchor persons for each participant will get the role of knowledge brokers and regularly follow the development of the project collaboration, both during the scheduled project meetings (see task 8.2) and via internet meetings.
Task 8.1 has produced a detailed Project Dissemination Plan.
Download the Project Dissemination Plan
Task 8.2 Capacity building and feed-back mechanisms for partners, stakeholders and governance bodies
Lead: Technical University of Denmark
Capacity building and full feedback mechanisms (promoting new techniques, methods, models and key knowledge for project participants, external stakeholders, and governance bodies) are within work packages 1-7 conducted and prioritized through workshops, e-learning training courses/webinars, symposia, and survey/trial fisheries. This also includes identification of key factors determining social acceptance of mesopelagic exploitation through focus group discussions.
Facilitated by this task, a series of consultations and external workshops with relevant stakeholders identified through a stakeholder database and internal instruction workshops between work packages/project participants will be conducted at the onset of the project. Several workshops will be conducted as specified under the different work packages. Learn more under Outcomes and and in the Project Dissemination Plan.
The aim of the consultations and workshops is to identify and discuss the key dynamics, trends and patterns in the mesopelagic ecosystems and their potential exploitation, as well as to identify the knowledge gaps that impede efficient resource management.
The task will identify problems and discuss methods and technologies with stakeholders according to societal readiness levels. The relevant types of stakeholders will among others include industry (catch and processing sectors and their organizations, global fish oil and fish meal producers and their organizations), press (general public), governmental and management bodies on national/regional/international levels (EU, RFMOs, national administrations, other policy fora, FAO, WOC, etc.), scientific management advisory bodies (ICES, NAFO, FAO, RFMO’s, etc), and NGOs (e.g. WWF).
The project will run e-learning courses or webinars to deliver training and knowledge exchange for capacity building covering new methods and technologies implemented for internal project participants and relevant external stakeholders. There will be held several e-learning training courses/webinars of 3-5 days duration involving stakeholders under the different work packages as specified under Outcomes. Learn more under the menu point Outcomes and in the Project Dissemination Plan.
The courses will be augmented with updated online resources using primarily e-learning or webinar techniques with online training lectures and manuals that will all be publicly available through existing public platforms (e.g. the ICES System) besides the MEESO website.
Finally, the project will also run cruise campaign blogs and invite journalists where relevant to cruise and trial fisheries campaigns in a coordinated manner. There will be released short introductory videos (and potentially manuals) of survey and fishing processes showing best fishing and surveying practice. This task includes also presentations of newly developed products at industry events.
Task 8.3 Efficient data guidance, management and standardization
Lead: International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
In close collaboration to work package 1, this task promotes efficient data management through existing data platforms to secure optimal storage, long term use, standardized designs and formats, as well as public availability of historic/new data including Data Journalism Communities for “data mining”. Appropriate links to data sets with standardized design and format for ICES and STECF and OECD data centres will be made as well as to EMONET, COPERNICUS and similar relevant data platforms. This also includes obtaining information from and connecting to other existing data platforms such as Global Fishing Watch (fishing effort maps) and other relevant stakeholder platforms.
This will also include an e-learning training course or webinar conducted as a cooperation between Tasks 8.2 and 8.3 on data portals/database design/database hosting according to needs. The Data Management Plan developed will ensure long-term availability of project data and results.
Task 8.4 Recommendations and advice on management strategies and governance processes
Lead: Technical University of Denmark
This task covers the dissemination of advice and management recommendations following fisheries management and advisory standards, systems and processes provided through e.g. ICES, NAFO and relevant RFMO management advice bodies, EU Advisory Councils (Long Distance, Market, Aquaculture, North-Western Pelagic Stocks) under consideration of relevant current management strategies under international conventions. The latter covers relevant UN conventions on ecosystem based sustainable exploitation of marine living resources (UNCLOS) and on marine biodiversity, relevant regional (e.g. EU CFP, EU MSFD, etc.) and national management directives, as well as relevant socio-economic Blue Growth strategies. In this process, relevant existing public platforms on marine resource exploitation, fisheries ocean governance, etc., are identified and used for dissemination of advice and management recommendations.
Recommendations are provided under the Blue Growth rationale, following UN/EU precautionary principles on Maximum Sustainable Yield. The work in this task involves cooperation with work package 6 on focus group work, interviews, and stakeholder workshop analyses with managers, advisors, scientists, industry, NGOs, general public and other relevant stakeholders including the different types of project participants. This also involves an e-learning course or webinar on implemented decision support tools. The course will demonstrate use of multi-disciplinary decision support tools that can facilitate management strategy evaluations according to scenarios for sustainable (potential) exploitation of mesopelagic marine living resources both covering ecological sustainability, socio-economic efficiency and sustainability, as well as social acceptance.
Also in cooperation with work package 7 an e-learning course or webinar in capacity building in governance and management will be offered. The latter includes knowledge transfer according to efficient institutional capacity building and key requirements for efficient and sustainable management of potential mesopelagic marine living resources.