Ekau, Werner ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4844-9654, Fock, Heino, Muelbert, José and Augustyn, Johann (2025) Boosting the South: A Vision for an All-Atlantic Training Platform. Oceanography, 38 (1). pp. 106-108. DOI https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2025.141.

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Abstract

Multidisciplinary and multinational cooperation is a prerequisite for success in marine research. The only way to establish sustainable global and regional management of the ocean is to view it as a whole and study all its different facets holistically. In addition to large-scale data collection, such studies require an exchange of knowledge, harmonization of laboratory and evaluation methods, and the mutual use of infrastructure. To further these goals, international training and education opportunities as well as work experiences need to involve underdeveloped regions in a meaningful and equal manner in order to reduce differences among national stakeholders, help promote the blue economy, and lead to better life conditions in a sustainable environment.

In contrast to the North Atlantic where there are a multitude of supra-national scientific (e.g., International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES) and management bodies (e.g., OSPAR, Helsinki Commission [HELCOM], North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission [NEAFC], North Atlantic Fisheries Organization [NAFO]), institutional scientific collaborations in the South Atlantic or North-South Atlantic are few and often not sustained. Exceptions that reflect cooperative alliances of more than 10 years include the Benguela Environment Fisheries Interaction and Training program (BENEFIT, involving Germany, Norway, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa) that promotes North-South cooperation in research and capacity development, and the German Science Partnerships for the Assessment of Complex Earth System Processes (SPACES) program that promotes shared training and education opportunities in technical and academic areas. The 10-year SPACES for southern Africa program ended in 2022 without any followup, similar to several EU-funded projects with strong South-South components, for example, South and Tropical Atlantic Climate-Based Marine Ecosystem Prediction for Sustainable Management (TRIATLAS). Long-term commitments are scarce; the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF)-Nansen Programme (Norway, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) is not specifically dedicated to capacity development; the Nansen-Tutu Centre as a joint Norwegian-South African project is specific to the country, as is the Ocean Science Center Mindelo, Cabo Verde, supported through the German Ministry of Research and Education.

All North Atlantic supra-national scientific and regional management bodies share a comparable history. For example, after an initial problem statement regarding overfishing (in the case of ICES in 1902 and NAFO in 1949) or pollution (OSPAR in 1972, HELCOM in 1974), respective international conferences laid foundations for the adoption of conventions and treaties leading to the formation of institutions mainly comprising three functional pillars: a commission representing the needs of contracting parties, a secretariat, and scientific working groups.

The structural deficit in the South Atlantic region is proving to be a strong obstacle for further All-Atlantic scientific progress, although the need for cooperation has been well acknowledged in respective political agendas. While in the North Atlantic the Galway Statement from 2013 strengthened the possibilities for cooperation between European and North American institutions, the Belém Statement of 2017, signed by Brazil, South Africa, Argentina, Morocco, and Cabo Verde, underpinned the need for more strategic partnerships with both South American and African partners, writing, “It is necessary to establish a platform and opportunities for scientific and technological cooperation resulting in joint activities and to promote and facilitate human capital development and scientific exchange.” In 2022, the All-Atlantic Declaration, while acknowledging achievements of the Galway and Belém statements in bridging the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic, strongly reinforced the need for sharing “knowledge, infrastructure, and capacity” as a means to enhance cooperative ocean science. However, we argue that means for cooperative ocean science are not equally accessible throughout the Atlantic, so that a cross-Atlantic platform for training and education for the whole Atlantic—an All-Atlantic Training Platform (AA-TP)—is very much needed, with the goal of dealing with inequalities for the South Atlantic. As such, capacity development is a central need in order to achieve United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development) and the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) for the whole Atlantic.

Document Type:	Article
Programme Area:	PA5
Research affiliation:	Ecology > Fisheries Biology
Refereed:	Yes
Open Access Journal?:	Yes
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2025.141
ISSN:	1042-8275
Date Deposited:	13 Mar 2026 10:44
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2026 10:44
URI:	https://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/6168

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