Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SOPHIE (Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe (SOPHIE): a Strategic Research Agenda for Europe and Beyond)

Teaser

The Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe project (SOPHIE) is helping to build new research capabilities for the emerging scientific discipline of ‘Oceans and Human Health’.Humans have interacted with the Ocean since ancient times. We have used it as a means of...

Summary

The Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe project (SOPHIE) is helping to build new research capabilities for the emerging scientific discipline of ‘Oceans and Human Health’.

Humans have interacted with the Ocean since ancient times. We have used it as a means of transportation, recreation, a source of food and raw materials, and more recently to generate renewable energy.

Whilst the ocean can benefit human health and boost wellbeing via activities like recreation and relaxation, it can also pose risks to human health – through factors such as flooding and pollution.

This complicated mix of threats and opportunities interact in ways we don’t fully understand. Exploring these relationships is the basis for Oceans and Human Health research.

Much of this early evidence has been established in the US but far less is known about these issues in other parts of the world, including in Europe, which faces its own set of unique challenges and opportunities.

Funded by the European Union\'s Horizon 2020 programme, SOPHIE is working towards understanding the links between oceans and health in Europe. It is nurturing a network of people and organisations interested in the subject, and is exploring how marine tourism and citizen science can contribute to this exciting area of research.

SOPHIE has brought together an international team of marine, health, social and economic science expert to work on this project. By including a broad range of interdisciplinary partners from both the marine and health sectors, it will help to unite disciplines and communities across Europe and the world.

The project is a ‘Coordination and Support Action’, which means it creates the conditions for research, rather than performing large amounts of research itself. One of the main aims of SOPHIE is to produce a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for oceans and human health in Europe. An SRA acts like a roadmap; setting out the direction future research should take, and identifying the resources needed from governments to make it happen.

To inform the Strategic Research Agenda, SOPHIE is also conducting several other activities:

• A systematic overview of the current scientific evidence;
• Creating a network of people interested in oceans and human health;
• Identifying initiatives which are already reducing risks and promoting benefits;
• Building a picture of what future economic, social and environmental conditions might look like;
• Creating bespoke training and skills programmes;
• Holding a global Oceans and Human Health Conference to present SOPHIE’s findings and launch the Strategic Research Agenda.

Work performed

SOPHIE has made substantial progress is several areas of work, placing it on track to deliver an Oceans and Human Health Strategic Research Agenda in 2020.

The SOPHIE Survey is collecting data from 14 European countries to understand the public’s perceptions and practices around Oceans and Human Health. The survey launches in early 2019 and will mark one of the biggest investigations of its kind ever conducted.

EU policies relating to Oceans and Human Health have been reviewed to understand what is currently being done in the area, and a scoping literature review is helping to develop an understanding of what we know; and where the gaps are.

Data is being collected on existing programmes that bring the areas of oceans and health together, and scenario modelling has begun to forecast the future of 5 EU marine basins.

Several pilot projects have been developed to provide skills training (involving citizen science and ‘blue tourism’) in the UK and Spain, these will be launched in 2019.

A growing community of people interested in oceans and human health research and practice is forming (www.linkedin.com/groups/12127491) and an expert group has been contributing to the initial framework of the Strategic Research Agenda.

All of these activities are being actively disseminated through the SOPHIE website (https://sophie2020.eu) and on social media (https://twitter.com/@OceansHealthEU) activities as well as through participation in scientific conferences and stakeholder meetings.

Final results

The evidence being gathered in the SOPHIE Project will help to make the interactions between oceans and human health a key priority for research, policy and practice over the coming decades.

To do this, SOPHIE is performing several firsts in this area, from conducting a large multi-country survey, to uniting researchers and practitioners from very different disciplines.

The outcomes of this work will develop understanding of the socio-economic importance of the links between the fields of oceans and health, and will help to safeguard future the future wellbeing and financial prosperity of European citizens.

Website & more info

More info: https://sophie2020.eu/.