Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission –Interview-based best practice manual for national committees of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) is the coordinating body for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (Ocean Decade). In its role, the IOC works with its member states’ National Decade Committees, which bridge the gap between local initiatives and the global Ocean Decade. 

In 2022, two years into the Ocean Decade, the IOC contracted us to create a best practices manual for National Decade Committees. The aim was to build community among the committees, to share what is going well and the challenges, and to provide guidance, from the IOC and the already-established committees, on how best to launch a successful committee. 

This project was interview-based. We worked closely with the IOC to connect with the committees, conduct interviews with representatives of 17 committees, plus the coordinator of the Early Career Ocean Professionals Programme. We ran a workshop with the committees to get feedback on the key takeaways from the interviews. Then we carefully crafted case studies and examples from the interviews, and worked in collaboration with the IOC to draft a manual that would offer clearly and concisely the information committees need at any phase of their work, from launch to creating a strategic plan, to advancing their priorities. 

The IOC reported to us that there was exceptional engagement from the committees throughout this project; and the committees provided feedback that they felt heard and well-represented in the best practices manual.