– as part of the Virtual Early Career Ocean Professional (V.ECOP) Day
within the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development
UNESCO and the United Nations have declared the period from January 2021 to the end of 2030 the UN Decade of Ocean Exploration. 1 June 2021 work begun with a virtual official kick-off, followed by a 24-hour live broadcast of exchanges and debates between Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs) from around the world.
HIFMB contributed to this with a live discussion on “Collective Steps for Healthy Researchers and Healthy Oceans”, where we addressed and synthesised issues of mental health and daily motivation of young scientists who are working together towards some of the most pressing ocean challenges such as lack of sustainability and biodiversity loss.
What does daily motivation look like when one’s work is dominated by personal, political, and societal pressures and one’s input seems too small, too junior and too late? Why is nevertheless the contribution of every young scientist important when it comes to generating and sharing knowledge, understanding relationships, and developing innovative management and conservation methods aimed at a healthy and resilient ocean?
Together with an artist, the format of graphic recording was used to compile the results of two workshops from two different time zones. The result is a visual map, a poster, that provides a synthesis of the output and a reflective summary of key issues facing early career researchers.