After these five years of climate sailing, we will now strengthen our scientific focus and work even closer with the international research project Sailing4Science – a citizen science initiative for sailors. Initiated and managed by the University of Trondheim, Norway (NTNU), and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden (UG). SEE WEBSITE
The project's mission is to encourage sailors around the world to participate in the sharing of knowledge of the ocean, by monitoring their local waters and collecting and reporting data. The data will be published on open data platforms for use by scientists around the world. Several projects have been performed already – and our 100% Sun Wind Water is one of them...
Sailing4Science is managed by Professor Murat Ardelan (NTNU) and Professor Martin Hassellöv (GU), together with students from their respective universities.
The project is endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade Program 2021-2030 and UNEPs campaign Clean Seas.
Excerpt from the UN Ocean Decade program: Human health and well-being, including sustainable and equitable economic development, depending on the health and safety of the world’s ocean. The ocean provides food and supports the livelihoods of over 3 billion people. It is an essential ally in the fight against climate change and a source of significant cultural, aesthetic, and recreational values. Emerging services, including renewable energy, marine genetic resources, or deep-sea minerals, have the potential to generate significant benefits but they also raise questions about risks to fragile ecosystems and equitable access to the benefits generated by the ocean. From an economic point of view, the ocean is of monumental importance. In 2010, the ocean economy generated over 30 million direct, full-time jobs and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ocean’s economic output had been predicted to reach US$3 trillion by 2030. Traditionally perceived as invincible, the ocean is under threat. Multiple impacts, from land-based and sea-based activities, affect over 40% of the ocean’s surface.
Deoxygenation is creating ocean ‘dead zones’ and harmful algal blooms are generating significant risks for human health and economies. Live coral cover, which harbors significant biodiversity and provides coastal protection and livelihoods, has nearly halved in the last 150 years. We cannot manage what we do not understand and there is much about the ocean that remains a mystery. To date, only 19% of the ocean floor
is mapped and there are vast swathes of the deep ocean and Arctic and Polar regions where we know virtually nothing about species distribution, ecosystems, ocean processes and stressors.
