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INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research

Partnership for Education and Cooperation in Operational Oceanography

Alternative title: Partnerskap for Utdanning og Samarbeid i Operasjonell Oseanografi

Awarded: NOK 3.4 mill.

Targeting the emerging field of operational oceanography the PECO2 project aims to develop education, training and coordination in operational oceanography and marine services while strengthening international partnership in this field. This is compliant with both the INTPART programme?s overall goal to strengthen and advance development in world-class research and education, and the Norwegian Governments Panorama Strategy for cooperation on higher education and research. In each participating country the PECO2 project will also become an important building block in support to the growing need for routine production and delivery of coastal and ocean information with societal benefit, notably in sectors such as: maritime safety, marine environment, marine resources and climate change. All in all the PECO2 project supports the UN´s Sustainable Development Goals, in particular goals 4, 13, 14 and 17. The project will terminate at the end of 2023 and is coordinated and managed by the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre in Bergen, Norway. It includes the following partners: Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen (Norway); Nansen Environmental Research Centre-India; Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (India); Nansen-Zhu International Research Centre; Chinese Academy of Sciences (China); CSIR Smart Places; Nansen-Tutu Center/University of Cape Town (South Africa); and Centre d'Enseignement et de Recherche sur l'Environnement Atmosphérique (France). The European Space Agency (ESA) provided additional financial support to participation of students, lecturers and supervisors from the member states of ESA. A dedicated training course in operational oceanography and marine services for 60 international students was implemented in two stages: A 10-weeks online course from September to December 2022 followed by the "One Ocean Expedition" from 3-13 January 2023 onboard the tall ship St. Lehmkuhl from Maputo (Mozambique) to Cape Town (South Africa).

The Advanced Ocean Synergy Training Course was designed to train the next generation of Earth Observation ocean scientists by providing insight in operational oceanography and marine services while strengthening international partnerships. Capitalizing on satellite sensor synergy and near real time access to data and model fields the course offered a combination of online standard and interactive lectures and at sea practical exercises. Key areas of societal relevance that were addressed and will benefit from this project are: maritime operations, transportation and safety, marine environment, marine resources and climate change. The PECO2 project also contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, notably: #13 - Climate Action, #14 - Life below Water and #17 – Partnerships for the Goals. The format of the 2022/2023 ESA-NERSC Advanced Ocean Synergy Training Course had never been practiced before, neither the long and intense online part of the course, nor the demanding sea going part. However, based on detailed planning and commitments as well as generally positive expressions received from the students it turned out to be highly successful. As such we are ready to do it again should the possibility arise. All the online lectures are recorded and can be reused. Student handbooks containing program and lecture materials were distributed prior to the online and at sea training course. The students also delivered 3 comprehensive student group reports that further highlight the outcome and impact of the project. The reports addressed: Air-sea interaction; Upper ocean dynamics; and Marine biology in the upper layers. In the long term, the project will improve the quality of education and help train the next generation of experts in operational oceanography, able to apply multi-disciplinary knowledge to address complex marine issues in maritime safety, coastal and marine environments and forecasting. PECO2 would also be the first attempt to provide an overall framework to develop a consolidated base of education and training for operational oceanography. It will also improve cooperation between the partner countries, reinforcing international links and stimulating new ideas and research training collaborations.

The PECO2 project aims to share advanced knowledge and experiences in operational oceanography accumulated through projects involving partners from South-Africa, China, France, India and Norway and develop this into a collaboration platform in support to education and training in operational oceanography and marine services. This is compliant with the INTPART program overall goal to advance the development and strengthen the world-class research and education. The PECO2 project is moreover fully compliant with the Norwegian Government Panorama Strategy for cooperation on higher education and research whereby it is emphasized that: "As a result of the changes occurring globally, cooperation with other countries on other continents (i.e. the BRICS countries) will come to play a more important role for the further development of the Norwegian knowledge society". In addition it will be highly relevant for the UN´s Sustainable Development Goals, in particular goals numbers 4, 13, 14 and 17. The project will review the needs and opportunities for both research cooperation and training within the framework of operational oceanography and identify where competency is needed in the next generation of researchers in this field. It will then implement a number of activities designed to provide training and stimulate research ideas. This includes two summer schools, a data assimilation course, a number of student exchange visits and guest lectures. PECO2 will look to broaden this work and explore a) how it could be adapted to users from the maritime industry and b) how to provide training for operational oceanography on a more sustained and systematic basis through a joint curriculum. The PECO2 project has clear relevance to a number of funded, cutting edge research programmes that are listed in the project description. In each participating country the PECO2 project will also become an important building block in support to the growing need for routine production and delivery of coastal and ocean information with societal benefit.

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INTPART-International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research