UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

The United Nations has proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).

The vision is "The science we need for the ocean we want". The mission is to find transformative ocean science solutions for sustainable development that connect people and our ocean. The United Nations initiative is therefore strengthening international cooperation in scientific research on the oceans in order to achieve the goals of the "Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development".

The UN Decade supports the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

Seven Decade Goals have been formulated that explain what the "ocean we want" should look like: 

1. a clean ocean

2. a healthy and resilient ocean

3. a productive ocean

4. a predictable ocean

5. a safe ocean

6. an accessible ocean

7. an inspiring ocean

The "life under water" is not only important for the people who live from and with the oceans. The oceans play a central role in the future of the global climate and biodiversity on Earth.

Our Museum is an official network partner of the German Ocean Decade Committee and is participating in the Decade with new exhibitions, events as well as research on biodiversity and noise in the ocean.


For each of the seven goals formulated for the Ocean Decade will be held a kick-off event - so called Ocean Decade Laboratory. 

The Ocean Decade Laboratory - A SAFE OCEAN took place from 5 to 7 April 2022. Together with other network partners, our museum hosted the event. Our scientific museum director Prof. Burkard Baschek accompanied the Ocean Decade Laboratory live from the German Oceanographic Museum as one of the chairs of this event. 

Organised is the event by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

In these days, experts from various disciplines, representatives of international initiatives, schoolchildren and other stakeholders exchanged views on the dangers posed to humans by the ocean and discussed ways to better counteract them in the future. Participation in all Ocean Decade Laboratories is open to everyone. 

Trailer | 5th Ocean Decade Laboratory

Wrap-up | 5th Ocean Decade Laboratory

The Core-Event

Summary of the Core-Event


Tainted, naked and defenceless -

humans as victims and perpetrators of the ecological catastrophe in the oceans with the TAINTEDoceanLOVE project as a photographic irritation in the OZEANEUM Stralsund.


From 29 April 2022 till the end of the year 2022, large-format photos from the art project TAINTEDoceanLOVE have been on public display for the first time in the foyer of the OZEANEUM Stralsund. The journalist Ann-Katrin Schröder and the photographer Oliver Franke stage professional water sportsmen in a new perspective: the human being as a victim in the picture, threatened by his deeds in reality. The pictures, which are as atmospheric as they are aesthetic, are intended to draw attention to the exploitation and destruction of the sea as a habitat.

"The actors of TAINTEDoceanLOVE show that protest against the exploitation of the oceans can be shaped in an artistic and activating way. At the OZEANEUM, we support this approach, take it to the public and link it to our contributions to the UN Ocean Decade," says museum director Prof. Burkard Baschek.

Four motifs from the TAINTEDoceanLOVE series were shown in the foyer of the OZEANEUM as four-metre wide and ten-metre high banners on the white steel façade, alternating every two months. The first motif shows the professional windsurfer Leon Jamaer caught in a ghost net under water. The photos have been accompanied by two exhibition boards that provide information about the project and the UN Ocean Decade. 

Website Fotograph Oliver Franke | Kiel 


With the theme days "MEERWissen tanzen - Wissenschaft bewegt!", our Museum dared to experiment with translating research topics into movement. The theme days took place in the OZEANEUM Stralsund in November 2021 - the starting year of the Ocean Decade 2021. Filmmaker Marcus Friedrich accompanied the experiment in documentary form and spent a lot of time in the editing room to sort out the abundance of images and impressions.