The European Marine Board's flagship "Navigating the Future" series provides critical periodic foresight and recommendations on emerging marine science topics and needs, as well as associated societal challenges and opportunities.

Objectives

NFVI will develop recommendations for knowledge-based solutions to address key societal challenges on how humanity is going to live in harmony with the Ocean. It will provide recommendations on how to close knowledge gaps on these fundamental aspects of marine science and how to make these discoveries visible and understandable to policy makers, industry, and society at large. NFVI will be structured around four key chapters, selected due to their link to policy interest at national, European, and international level and their transdisciplinary nature: Ocean and People; Ocean and Climate; Ocean and Fresh Water; and Ocean and Biodiversity.

NFVI will take stock in terms of progress towards achieving the goals of UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, the EU’s Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters (and other EU Missions), and the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Framework funding programme at their mid-term points. It will provide recommendations for what is missing in terms of research needs and how to ensure that science is accessible for informing these initiatives.

NFVI will be launched in a dedicated hybrid event on 23 October 2024, 15:00-18:00 CEST at Talk C.E.C, Brussels, Belgium and online. The event will include presentations and discussion on the document, with a networking reception and access to the Mers en Océans exhibition provided for in-person attendees (exhibition only accessible via stairs).