Addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Inspiring an Understanding of Ocean Health and Human Health Interconnections Using Citizen Science and Stakeholder Deliberations

Citizen Science, the involvement of non-scientists of all ages in the scientific process with the potential to educate, inspire, and empower citizens, is increasingly applied in marine research. It is engaging civil society and other stakeholders in decision-making processes when addressing societal challenges. The recent Ocean Literacy movement particularly encourages wider awareness about the ocean’s influence on us, and our influence on the ocean. It is believed that improved Ocean Literacy and greater collaboration and engagement can inspire citizens to modify their perceptions and to change their behaviour to be more environmentally friendly. This wider participation of civil society in research is also a way of empowering citizens to be more engaged in decision- and policy-making at all levels from local to international. Participation in relevant Citizen Science initiatives can also be a direct way for society to engage with and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The meta-discipline of Oceans and Human Health (OHH) spans expertise in marine, public health and medical fields, and explores the complex interactions between Ocean Health and Human Health. These interactions can bring negative impacts for both ocean and human health, but they can also deliver significant benefits. This is a relatively new field of research, and is fundamentally interdisciplinary. It is also a topic of huge importance to society as its scope includes many of the grand societal challenges of our time: ensuring food security and safety, reducing the global burden of disease and sustaining human wellbeing, in a context of declining ecosystems functionality and climate change. This topic is also linked to many of the SDGs. The EU Horizon 2020-funded Project SOPHIE (Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe; https://sophie2020.eu/) aims to explore this area in greater detail to provide a vision for Europe and beyond going forward. A key theme within this Project is societal interactions: enabling citizens and experts alike to outline their priorities in relation to OHH, and to input to co-developing knowledge and future strategy in relevant areas. Every person in Europe has a stake in promoting and protecting the benefits to health and wellbeing provided by the marine environment and marine ecosystem services, whether it is high on their agenda or not. SOPHIE ensures that all voices are heard, recognizing that interactions are not restricted to only those who are aware or have a vested interest in OHH, giving everyone an active voice in the dialogues necessary to address these complex issues. Both stakeholder deliberations and Citizen Science will be used within the Project, linking to OHH and to the wider theme of sustainable blue tourism. This paper will expand on the benefits and uses of Citizen Science and diverse stakeholder deliberations in marine applications and interdisciplinary research, as an ideal medium for citizens to interact with the SDGs. It will discuss OHH research as a demonstrator for interdisciplinary solution finding to move towards sustainability, using the SOPHIE work as examples. The paper will close with some hints, tips and recommendations for using these approaches