The Full Picture

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Many such role models exist. Examples in education,

research, and use and promotion of operational prod-

ucts follow.

Self-drive in education

In 2006, the Eduardo Mondlane University established

a School of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Quelimane,

Mozambique. The effort was in response to the

University Strategic Plan that envisages curricula devel-

opment, establishing new courses in emerging areas of

major economic and social importance, and expanding

the University throughout the country. Furthermore, the

establishment of the school is an appropriate response

to the long-term trend of increased emphasis on oceans,

coasts and associated resources.

The school’s main mission is professional teaching of

degree courses in applied oceanography and marine

biology, conduct of applied research, and implementa-

tion of projects for sustainable use of natural resources.

Courses in marine chemistry and marine geology will

be added shortly. The UNESCO chair in marine sciences

and oceanography formed a British Council Academic

Link with the University of Bangor in 1997 which

contributed directly to the establishment of the school.

The school opened with 40 students and seven lectur-

ers in February 2006, and now has 80 students and 11

full time lectures on its rolls.

Partnering the self-drive in research

Research from the Centre for Tropical Marine Ecology

(ZMT), Leibniz Institute, University of Bremen,

Germany, addresses ecological and socio-economic

issues related exclusively to tropical coastal ecosys-

tems, their resources and their vulnerability to natural

and human perturbations. Research institutions and

universities in the tropics are the ZMT’s long-term part-

ners in projects that develop capacity and

infrastructure building.

Long-term projects are on going in South and Central

America, Africa and Southeast Asia. These projects typi-

cally develop after joint surveys of research and capacity

building needs through conferences and workshops, as

well as through direct information exchange among

partners. Issues identified in this way often become the

basis for long-term (five to ten year) projects funded by

agencies in both countries.

These long-term projects are used as a platform for

developing the capacity of young students and

researchers, both on- and off the field. The research-

based training programmes are supported through

international Masters and PhD courses offered jointly

by ZMT and the University of Bremen. Further support

to the research programmes comes through summer

schools and training workshops in cooperation with

regional and international organizations. The excellent

track record of this long-standing programme has

produced young scientists who are now leading

national efforts that aim to meet country needs in the

long-term.

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO

(IOC) implements this principle by harnessing the ‘self-drive’ of insti-

tutes. IOC examples from different regions illustrate this approach.

Similarly, there are excellent examples of planning and implement-

ing innovative research programmes in developing regions through

collaborative research from a research institute in a sponsor’s country.

IOC addresses marine science institutes at the level of directors,

project leaders and scientists. This constitutes the first phase.

Institutes, key players in utilizing earth observations to solve soci-

etal problems, are also critical links in developing capacity in a

nation, as they link naturally to decision-makers and communities.

Strengthening these linkages in the second phase of the CD

programme meets the IOC vision of institutes within a region

exchanging best practices for safe and sustainable uses of the ocean.

Implementation is through a series of interlinked workshops that

aim at advancing skills in leadership for directors, in proposal writing

for project leaders, and in team working for scientists. Empowering

those who have a vision for their institutes, with tools to improve

their own and their institutes’ performance and to challenge busi-

ness-as-usual functioning, is what the workshops set out to achieve.

Besides this, the workshops also transfer the skills to write propos-

als in a business-like manner, and numerical tools to supplement the

lack of expensive infrastructure. These skills will enable institutes

to understand, model, visualize local coastal processes and ecosys-

tems, and bid for coastal management consultancies. This is a way

for institutes to earn their own capacity-development funds.

Collaboration with the social and human sciences is the third phase

of the CD programme, where modelling is used as the crucial link

between earth observation and societal benefits.

Implementing IOC capacity-development programme

The IOC self-driven capacity-development programme is less than

two years old. In this time, thanks to a grant from the Swedish

International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), IOC has

engaged with the directors and senior scientists of over 100 insti-

tutes in more than 75 countries in the Caribbean, Latin American,

East and West African, Indian Ocean, and SE Asian regions. The

programme consists of a series of workshops that strengthen insti-

tutes by addressing the leadership, proposal writing, and team

building skills of directors and their scientists. Coastal modelling

using available operational products to create special products for

the region also forms an important part of the implementation.

East Africa, where the programme started in Maputo, Mozambique,

has achieved the greatest progress amongst the regions. Numerical

modelling efforts that use available operational data products are

boosting research and consultancy capabilities.

Post-graduate

education is also progressing well under programmes initiated within

and for the region. IOC works as a catalyst in these efforts using its

academic contacts and university chairs to promote a network of

north-south chairs. These chairs exchange best practices and catalyze

long-term education and research programmes required to ensure

sustainability of modelling and operational efforts.

Many positive results are already visible in East Africa and have

helped the IOC-CD effort to demonstrate special progress there. The

three most notable examples being the long-term commitments of

Sida to support marine science research through competitive funding;

active political support to the general philosophy of self-help;

and

a history of regional collaboration. The process is showing a similar

trend in Latin America and West Africa.

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