Are you a professional communicator working in a marine institute, governmental body or a NGO, or a marine scientist that would like to be speed-trained by experts in the skills of modern ocean science communication?  Then CommOCEAN 2018 is for you. The conference programme combines hands-on exercises in current science communication skills for disseminating ocean research and technology, with plenty of expertise-sharing, social interaction and fascinating marine science along the way.

CommOCEAN 2018 will take place on 4-5 December 2018 in Southampton, United Kingdom.  Registration and call for abstracts are now open (Abstract submission deadline: 1 July 2018; Early Bird registration before 31 August 2018). You can find out more information about the conference, programme, fees and venue at http://www.commocean.org/

Dissemination, outreach and communication of scientific knowledge are becoming more and more important in today’s society, where social inclusion is an integral part of environmental protection and sustainable development.  This is particularly true for the world of ocean research, a world that is largely hidden from our view, representing an added challenge to the communication of marine research.  From its inception, the Ocean Literacy movement has advocated closer interaction between marine scientists, educators and other stakeholders (the public, policy-makers, private sector), and inspired new events and networks all over the world.  Both the EMSEA (European Marine Science Educators Association) annual conferences and CommOCEAN are prime examples of such new initiatives.  CommOCEAN as the International Marine Science Communication Conference, was launched by the European Marine Board Communications Panel (EMBCP) and organized in the first instance by its Portuguese partners (CIIMAR, Ciencia Viva) in Porto in 2014, and a second was held in Belgium in 2016 (Bruges-Ostend) and organized by VLIZ, EMB, EMBCP and UNESCO/IOC/IODE. CommOCEAN focuses on a target audience of young marine scientists and communicators who want to be trained in science communication skills.  The third event, in Southampton, UK, is being arranged and hosted by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and will see some of the programme split for marine scientists and professional communicators ensuring the programme is relevant, challenging and inspiring.

Keep track of CommOCEAN 2018 on Twitter and Facebook.