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THE project
CONTEXT AND MAIN ISSUES
The ocean is severely degraded by human activity: plastic pollution, overfishing, climate climate change, etc. The SOS project – Sharing Ocean Science for responsible business is based on the conviction that efficient cooperation between business and science has a major role to play in transforming our business models towards sustainable practices.
GOALS
The SOS project aims to develop educational tools and methodologies to promote ocean science and raise awareness of the need to protect the marine environment. Our objectives are :
- Create synergies between scientific research, the business world and civil society.
- Developing educational tools to raise awareness of marine issues among the younger generation.
- Encouraging innovation to meet today’s environmental challenges.
METHOD
Collective intelligence and ‘design thinking’ have guided the different stages of the project and the collaborative workshops aimed at stimulating cooperation between companies, scientists and NGOs.
The members of the consortium, representing worlds not used to working together, took part in three workshops focusing on the exchange of ideas and best practice, the study of innovative models, the co-creation of innovative solutions or tools, and the prototyping of co-created concepts.
Results and advances
Stage 1: Marseille (Inspiration and Launch)
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Stage 2: Rome (Ideation and Co-creation)
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The second meeting took place at La Sapienza University in Rome. This phase, known as ‘ideation’, consisted of formulating and bringing together ideas from researchers and companies to respond to the issues identified in Marseille. For two days, participants explored avenues to better understand the expectations of business leaders and scientists.
Case studies presented by Italian researchers and local start-ups put some of these ideas into practice, with examples of successful collaboration such as the transplantation of blocks of coral to minimise the ecological impact of the installation of a pipeline in the Adriatic Sea.
Stage 3: Samos (Prototyping and Development)
The phase in Samos focused on prototyping the ideas from the previous workshops. The discussions highlighted the difficulties common to both businesses and researchers, such as the lack of resources and time, hampering their ability to take action for more sustainable practices. As a result, the group focused on creating effective, scalable tools that would enable meaningful long-term action while meeting the needs of each company.
The third stage of the project took place on the Greek island of Samos, in a setting conducive to reflection and creativity. The aim of this session was to prototype the tools devised during the previous stages. The discussions highlighted difficulties common to both companies and researchers, such as a lack of resources and time, which hamper their ability to take action to promote more sustainable practices. As a result, the group focused on creating modular tools capable of meeting the needs of each company while having a long-term impact.
This stopover was also marked by visits to scientific sites, in particular the Protecting Aegean Coralligenous project, winner of the Pure Ocean award, which is a good illustration of the ongoing efforts to preserve marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean.
Stage 4: Marseille - Closure and Ocean Impact Forum (Testing and Validation)
The project culminated in the Ocean Impact Forum on Thursday 17 October 2024 in Marseille, which brought together around a hundred business, scientific and political leaders.
The forum also featured a workshop on the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), conferences on innovation inspired by life, the regenerative economy and personal accounts.
A programme to help you understand how to reduce your company’s environmental footprint:
16h00 – 18h00
> Practical workshops on the CSRD directive
Anne Carmier, from Utopies, a pioneer of the B Corp label in Europe, will explain the fundamentals of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
18h00 – 19h30
> Key witnesses
Alain Renaudin, founder of NewCopr Conseil and Biomim’Expo, will talk about the power and diversity of living matter, a source of and pathway to innovation.
Séverine Fantapie will unveil the bold vision of the regenerative economy, a complete break with current models of the extractive economy.
> Round table discussion, cross-cutting interviews, concrete examples of ecological transformation
Emmanuel Dujardin, Chairman Rougerie Tangram
Julie Ducret, Managing Director Pulpe de Vie
Christophe Mangalte, Technicoflor CSR Director
Anne Carmier, Director of Utopies Consultancy
> Review of the European Union-led project ‘Sharing ocean science for responsible business
The team
Samira Agem
Managing Director of the Proman Foundation
Tim Granjean
Researcher at the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation
Gwen Lechat
Head of sponsorship at Pure Ocean
Charlie Mathiot
Pure Ocean Scientific Coordinator
Christine Tarbouriech
HLD General Delegate for the Mediterranean
Daniele Ventura
Post-doctoral fellow in Environmental Biology at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’.
Lan Anh Vu Hong
Collective Intelligence Facilitator
Partners
Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation
The Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation is an NGO dedicated to researching and protecting the biodiversity of the Greek seas and islands.
Proman Foundation
A Foundation dedicated to vulnerable young people and preserving the environment
HLD for the Mediterranean
The HLD Mediterranean Fund supports projects to protect the marine environment in the Mediterranean.
Pure Ocean
Pure Ocean is a foundation that supports innovative research projects to protect marine biodiversity.
Proman
Proman is a French company specialising in temporary work and fixed-term/permanent recruitment.
Sapienza Universita di Roma
University of Rome
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