Description
In 2021, the United Nations launched the Ocean Decade initiative which promotes a paradigm shift in the generation of ocean science. The Ocean Decade mobilizes state and non-state actors with asymmetric (communication) power, resources, and knowledge to co-design and co-deliver ocean science. This paper presents a conceptual model for situating and exploring the processes of co-designing and co-delivering of ocean science. The model integrates knowledge about actors (multiple stakeholders including policymakers and scientists), influences (policy incentives and ocean conflict), collaborative processes and structures (decade actions, programmes, projects), capabilities of actors, security objectives, and collaborative actions. These actions can generate impact and adaptations across ocean management and governance frameworks. The model draws on and applies knowledge and concepts from a wide range of fields including environmental communication, collaborative governance, global policies, and geopolitics. It models 1) transboundary cooperation and science-policy interactions, 2) the circulation and intersection of ocean discourses, emotions, and strategic narratives, and 3) the enabling and constraining conditions for developing the ocean science we need. The model will provide the foundation for empirical research on ocean science diplomacy, which will be advanced in a future research project.
