By Alison Kentish
DOMINICA, Mar 19 2024 – Picture yourself as an early-career ocean researcher. You have the opportunity to be at sea in addition to learning on campus. Through cutting-edge technology and immersive facilities, you experience the most realistic ocean exploration scenarios, including braving extreme cold and harsh environments. That’s the experience at the Launch, a ‘living lab’ at the Marine Institute of Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the east coast of Canada. It’s an experience meant to prepare you for the real-world complexities of the type of ocean research needed to tackle urgent global issues like climate change.

In the same spirit of immersion, imagine being able to conduct research at two unique ecological observatories: Hakai Institute’s Quadra Island with labs for genomics, ancient DNA, and physical and chemical observatory, and the Institute’s remote Calvert Island observatory—an off-grid site and the only settlement on the island, which is located between Vancouver and Alaska. There, you can conduct research in oceanography, ecosystems mapping, nearshore habitats, watersheds, and biodiversity.

What sounds like a researcher’s most ambitious dream is the reality for scholars of the Nippon Foundation-Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean Centre of Excellence in Observational Oceanography. Once spearheaded by the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, the next phase of the programme is being hosted by the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI), which is led by Dalhousie University, in partnership with the Faculty of Open Learning and Career Development at Dalhousie University. Partnerships with the Marine Institute of Memorial University and the Hakai Institute make for dynamic learning and hands-on experience.

“By providing 10 scholars a year the opportunity to develop and fine-tune their interdisciplinary skills, all relevant to observation of the global ocean, the Centre of Excellence is equipping the next generation of leaders and mentors,” says Tracey Woodhouse, OFI’s Training and Early Career Development Program Manager.

The Centre of Excellence is being hosted by the Ocean Frontier Institute (OFI) in partnership with the Faculty of Open Learning and Career Development at Dalhousie University. Credit: Courtesy OFI

With a significant number of applicants received, priority consideration is being given to candidates from developing and emerging nations who hold positions at research, academic, or governmental institutes in their home country, and who anticipate returning there after the completion of the program.

“They learn about the climate-ocean nexus, how to communicate with diverse groups, including policymakers, data management practices, coding, and modelling, all while networking with researchers at the forefront of ocean and climate work.”

Since its start in 2008, there have been 10 cohorts of scholars, producing over 100 scholars. Woodhouse says the scholars join a larger network of alumni and have inspired the next generation of ocean observers. Founder and President of the Tula Foundation’s Hakai Institute, Eric Peterson, says the values of the Centre of Excellence seamlessly align with those of the partners.

“Our Hakai Institute is an integrated program of coastal science and community programs on our Pacific coastal margin. We say that we study everything from “icefields to oceans,” mainly through the lens of climate change. Together with many partners, we conduct long-term observational science and experimentation ranging from analyzing water masses upwelling across the continental shelf to glacial loss and coastal instability,” he told IPS.

“We provide the fellows with exposure to the Pacific Coast, hands-on field research, and greater exposure to Indigenous perspectives on science, resource management, and education,” he told IPS.

Peterson says the programme’s diversity ensures that no region is left out of ocean science research.

The scholars have the opportunity to experience both ocean exploration and learning on campus. Credit: Courtesy OFI

“Our other program, which has been in place for over 20 years, is a public health and nursing education program (TulaSalud) in the rural Indigenous regions of Guatemala. We welcome initiatives that build links between our ecological work in Canada and our longstanding work in global health, in the spirit of what is now called OneHealth. The Centre of Excellence, with its emphasis on educating future leaders from the global south, is therefore a very good fit for us,” he said.

Officials of the Marine Institute campus of Memorial University agree. Vice President Dr. Paul Brett told IPS that the programme is “creating space” for early-career researchers to expand their work in ocean observation within the wider context of ocean research.

“This program sees scholars come together worldwide and with varied academic experiences. The diversity in perspectives will be beneficial in many elements of the group’s shared learning and in the independent research projects they will engage in throughout the program. It is anticipated that participation in the independent research work, coupled with curricular elements of science communication and presentation skills, will equip students to engage in critical conversations concerning ocean research in Canada and their home country.”

Brett says the Marine Institute will host the scholars for about six months and they will be part of a programme ‘tailored to the fundamentals of observational oceanography’.

“Topics include applied oceanography, ocean observation, and remote sensing. The curriculum will be delivered through classroom theory, practical hands-on shops, labs, and time spent on the water from MI’s Holyrood facility, The Launch,” he said.

With the Hakai Institute’s assistance, the scholars will benefit from investment in geospatial science. According to Peterson, this includes satellites, aircraft, drones, and bathymetry.

“Most of the work we do from our ecological observatories is fortified by detailed mapping, modelling, etc. This ranges from mapping of ocean dynamics, planktons, kelps, and seagrass, intertidal invertebrates, snow and ice cover, geomorphological change to our coastline, and even identification of ancient human settlements has a geospatial component,” he said.

OFI has confirmed International Ocean Institute Canada and DeepSense as additional curriculum delivery partners and the Institute intends to forge new partnerships as the programme progresses.

The Centre of Excellence will be hosted by OFI for at least three years, with the possibility of an extension. Institute officials say that through this partnership, the scholars are given the tools, facilities, mentorship, and opportunities to make their mark on ocean research.

“Graduates from the Nippon Foundation-Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean Centre of Excellence go on to complete higher-level degrees; guide ocean stewardship in their home countries; teach, mentor, and inspire the next generation; lead innovative ocean research; inform policy; and more. There’s no limit to the number of doors the Centre of Excellence can open for the scholars,” said Woodhouse.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Mar 19 2024 – This year more than half the world’s population has the chance to go to the polls. That might make it look like the most democratic year ever, but the reality is more troubling. Too many of those elections won’t give people a real say and won’t offer any opportunity for change.

2024’s bumper election year comes as a record number of countries are sliding towards authoritarianism, and global advances in democratisation achieved over more than three decades have been all but wiped out. In 2023, no authoritarian state became a democracy, and while some countries made marginal improvements in the quality of their democracies – by improving civic space, making inroads on corruption or strengthening institutions – many more experienced often serious declines.

Nearly three quarters of humanity now live under authoritarian regimes. Defending democracy and holding political leaders to account is becoming harder as civic space is shutting down. The proportion of people living in countries with closed civic space, 30.6 per cent, is the highest in years.

The latest State of Civil Society Report, from global civil society alliance CIVICUS, shows how conflict is exacerbating this regressive trend. In war-torn Sudan, hopes for democracy, repeatedly denied since the 2019 overthrow of dictator Omar al-Bashir, receded further as elections were made impossible by the civil war between the military and militia that erupted last April. Russia’s sustained assault on Ukraine brought intensified repression of domestic dissent, and there were no surprises in the recent non-competitive vote that maintained Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.

The ineffectiveness of civilian governments in dealing with jihadist insurgencies has also been the justification used by military leaders to take or retain power in Central and West Africa. As a result, rule by junta is in danger of becoming normalised after decades in which it appeared on the verge of extinction. A ‘coup belt’ now stretches coast to coast across Africa. None of the states that fell victim to military rule in recent years have returned to civilian government, and two more – Gabon and Niger –joined their ranks last year.

Authoritarian regimes that experienced mass protest movements in recent years, including Iran, Nicaragua and Venezuela, have regained their footing and hardened their grip. In states long characterised by autocratic rule, many civil society activists, journalists and political dissidents have sought safety in exile to continue their work. But they often didn’t find it, with repressive states – China, Turkey, Tajikistan, Egypt and Russia are the worst five abusers –increasingly using transnational repression against them.

Many elections are held with no competition. Last year several non-democratic states of various kinds – including Cambodia, the Central African Republic, Cuba, Eswatini, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe – held votes in which autocratic power was never in question. Voting was ceremonial, its purpose to add a veneer of legitimacy to domination.

Many more regimes that combine democratic and authoritarian traits have been home to recent elections with less predetermined results, where there was at least some chance of the ruling party being defeated. But incumbent advantage was reflected in the fact that change rarely materialised, as seen in Nigeria, Paraguay, Sierra Leone and Turkey. The outlier was Maldives, where voters have a history of rejecting sitting presidents.

Some hybrid regimes, notably El Salvador, experienced further democratic backsliding through the erosion of freedoms and institutional checks and balances – a road typically travelled by populist authoritarians who claim to speak in the name of the people and insist they need to concentrate power to deal with crises.

When voters do have a genuine say, in free and fair elections, they’re increasingly rejecting mainstream parties and politicians. In a time of economic uncertainty and insecurity, many express disappointment with what democracy is offering them. Anti-rights political entrepreneurs are successfully exploiting their anxieties by scapegoating migrants and attacking women’s and LGBTQI+ people’s rights. Right-wing populists using such tactics recently took control of Argentina, came first in elections in the Netherlands and Switzerland and entered government in Finland. Even where they don’t take office, far-right forces often succeed in shifting the political centre by forcing others to compete on their terms. They’re expected to make big gains in the European Parliament elections in June 2024.

Polarisation is on the rise, fuelled by disinformation, conspiracy theories and hate speech. These are made so much easier by AI-powered technologies that are spreading and evolving faster than they can be regulated. The first elections of 2024, including those in Bangladesh and Indonesia, offered cautionary tales of the unprecedented levels of manipulation that AI can enable. We’re likely to see a lot more of this in 2024.

But our research findings support our hope, because they show movement isn’t all in one direction. In Guatemala, a new party born from mass anti-corruption protests was the unlikely 2023 election winner, and people mobilised in numbers to defend the result in the face of powerful political and economic elites. Despite China’s concerted attempts to derail Taiwan’s election, including through cyberattacks, people vindicated their right to have a say in their own future. In Poland, a unity government pledging to restore civic freedoms came to power after eight years of right-wing nationalist rule, offering new potential for civil society to partner in retrieving democratic values and respecting human rights. In Mexico, which is among the many countries going to the polls in 2024, people mobilised in numbers against the threat posed by a democratically elected leader seeking to override checks and balances. Given the dangers it may entail, civil society is pushing for transnational regulation of AI.

Things would be much worse were it not for civil society, which continues to mobilise against restrictions on freedoms, counter divisive rhetoric and strive for the integrity of electoral processes. Throughout 2024, civil society will keep pushing for elections to take place in free and fair conditions, for people to have the information they need, for votes to be properly counted, for losers to accept defeat and for winners to govern in the common good.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

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