First Ocean Decade International Coastal Cities Conference: Better Ocean, Better City

Co-designing ocean science to strengthen the ocean’s contribution to the sustainable development of coastal cities.

Hosted by the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government in collaboration with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO), the first Ocean Decade International Coastal Cities Conference will convene in Qingdao, China, in February 2025.

Building upon the momentum and outcomes of the 2024 Ocean Decade Conference, this conference will mark a pivotal moment in accelerating action for the newly launched “Cities with the Ocean” Platform and be a major step towards the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference and the planned pre-Conference special event on ‘Ocean Rise and Resilience’.

This two-day, in-person conference will gather 150-200 key stakeholders from coastal cities and territories globally to facilitate knowledge exchange, showcase best practices, and foster collaboration and partnerships to address the challenges and opportunities in generating and using ocean science for sustainable development.

The challenges confronting coastal communities are vast, but together we can build the collective action to make a difference and drive forward the sustainable future of our coastal cities!

REGISTER HERE.

About the First International Ocean Decade Coastal Cities Conference

Coastal cities are among the fastest-growing human settlements in the world. They are on the frontline to benefit from the growth of a sustainable ocean economy, but also to face escalating threats from climate change, ocean pollution, and other environmental risks. The Ocean Decade presents a unique opportunity to harness ocean science and knowledge to address these challenges, enhance the resilience of coastal cities to global change, and improve the living conditions and well-being of their inhabitants.

To bridge key stakeholders of urban coastal territories with the Ocean Decade community, the Cities with the Ocean Platform was inaugurated during the 2024 UN Ocean Decade Conference, along with the offer of Qingdao Municipality to host the first Ocean Decade Coastal Cities Conference in 2025.

As the first-ever Ocean Decade International Coastal Cities Conference and the first major event for the community of the coastal cities after the official launch of the Cities with the Ocean Platform, the Conference aims to bring together the community and provide aforum for synergies and exchanges. Specifically, the Conference will:

Provide an opportunity for more coastal cities, ports, Decade Actions, and other relevant stakeholders to join and support the Platform and get involved in its organisation and development.
Facilitate knowledge exchange and experience sharing on themes aligned with the Ocean Decade Challenges that are relevant to coastal cities, including climate change, marine pollution, marine biodiversity, blue economy, and ocean literacy, to inform a better science-policy-society interface locally, nationally, and globally.
Showcase and share best practices in adaptive governance and resource management tools for assessing and mitigating the vulnerability and risk of coastal cities.
Catalyze new partnerships and flagship initiatives while leveraging existing partnerships and initiatives to foster synergies to strengthen coastal city resilience, and enhance their capacity to meet evolving need.
Build a consensus among the coastal cities, ports, and other relevant stakeholders on strengthening partnerships on the co-design and co-delivery of science-based solutions and best practices, and launching a statement/declaration as a major outcome of the Conference.
Foster global dialogue on the promotion of sustainable development of coastal cities, and contribute to the key discussions on ocean and coastal city sustainability at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference co-hosted by the Governments of France and Costa Rica, including the pre-Conference special event on ‘Coastal Rise and Resilience’.

Hosts:

Qingdao Municipal People’s Government in collaboration with UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

Organizers: