Think Tank
Where ocean knowledge becomes headlines and policy
EMPOWERING CHANGE THROUGH KNOWLEDGE
WomenAndOceans is a research-led Think Tank developed within the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project WomenAndOceans (Grant Agreement No. 101105000). It brings ocean research into conversation with policy, public debate, and the lived realities of maritime communities. The Think Tank focuses on the social, cultural, political, and environmental dimensions of ocean spaces. Its work supports a more nuanced understanding of ocean-based communities, maritime practices, and the stakeholders who operate in complex and contested seascapes. Led by women researchers working across maritime and ocean-related fields, WomenAndOceans highlights the knowledge, leadership, and contributions of women in coastal economies, heritage practices, navigation, environmental stewardship, and ocean governance. Its name reflects both the leadership of women scholars and a broader commitment to recognising gender perspectives as central to the future of ocean research, policy, and diplomacy. Through research, dialogue, and public-facing outputs, WomenAndOceans seeks to strengthen the visibility, legitimacy, and influence of communities and knowledge systems that are often under-recognised in global ocean debates.
A central concern of the Think Tank is the way the ocean is framed in public discourse. It examines how media language shapes perceptions of maritime space, security, and risk, and how these narratives influence political priorities. At the same time, it challenges terracentrism, understood as the tendency to think about the ocean from a land-based perspective and to subordinate maritime realities to terrestrial logic of control, ownership, and governance.
Through research, policy dialogue, and public communication, WomenAndOceans seeks to reshape how the ocean is understood and represented, while promoting more inclusive perspectives within debates on ocean governance and maritime futures. It aims to influence agendas, provide strategic arguments for stakeholders, and contribute to long-term transformations in ocean governance and environmental diplomacy.
The Women & Oceans Think Tank forms part of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) as an activity developed under Ocean Decade Project 81.6: Women, Heritage & Navigation in the Pacific.
Legitimising Ocean Voices
This Think Tank is committed to strengthening the link between policymakers and those whose lives and livelihoods depend on the sea. It actively challenges policies that overlook maritime realities and the diverse knowledge systems—including those shaped by gendered roles in coastal societies—that sustain ocean-dependent communities. It promotes approaches that recognise the knowledge, practices, and traditions shaped through long-term engagement with ocean environments. Its work seeks to ensure that these voices are not marginalised in decision-making processes that govern marine and coastal spaces, and that ocean-dependent communities are treated as legitimate actors in debates about sustainability, security, and governance.
Ocean Voices in Public Discourse
The Think Tank places public discourse at the centre of its work, recognising that the way the ocean and ocean-connected communities are spoken about shapes political priorities and environmental action. It challenges reductive and marginalising language in media and policy narratives and promotes ways of framing maritime lives and practices that reflect their social, cultural, and political significance. By engaging with journalists, institutions, and policymakers, it seeks to reshape how ocean issues are understood and debated in the public sphere. Through this focus on language and representation, the Think Tank also fosters collaboration among diverse stakeholders, supports constructive dialogue, and encourages innovative responses to the environmental challenges affecting marine and coastal spaces. It advances diplomatic practices that address ocean health and maritime governance in concrete terms, with the aim of generating tangible change for marine environments and contributing to their long-term preservation.
Sea Voices in Underwater Heritage
Underwater heritage sites hold deep cultural meaning for people whose histories and identities are shaped through long-term relationships with the sea. These sites act as material links to maritime traditions, collective memory, and past ways of life, particularly where landscapes have been transformed by sea-level rise or environmental change. Preserving such places is therefore not only a matter of protecting physical remains, but also of sustaining cultural practices and social identities connected to marine environments. The safeguarding of underwater heritage contributes to the recognition of ocean-based histories and supports the continuity of maritime cultures across generations.
