Sustainability at Sea: Transformations in Contemporary Ocean Governance

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 09:17:36 +0200

Date: 7 – 8 May

Time: Thu 13:00 – 19:00, Fri 9 – 15:45 (CEST)

Location: University of Bamberg, Feldkirchenstr. 21, FG21/00.08, hybrid (roundtable)

The ocean is governed through an increasingly dense set of formal and informal arrangements spanning sustainability, security, and economic development. In a rapidly changing environmental and geopolitical context, governance at sea is shaped by competing imaginaries, distributive conflicts, and evolving technological capabilities. Beyond traditional state-centric processes, soft law mechanisms, multi-actor networks, and locally grounded practices increasingly drive rule formation, producing governance dynamics that unfold simultaneously at local, national, regional, and global levels.

This workshop foregrounds sustainability as a cross-cutting concern in these multilevel governance transformations. It examines how diverse actors conceptualise sustainable uses of the ocean and how these visions intersect or clash with agendas of extraction, innovation, and economic growth. Adopting an explicitly interdisciplinary approach, the workshop brings together perspectives from political science, international law, human geography, and sustainability studies to illuminate how governance practices are formed, contested, and transformed.

By tracing dynamics across areas such as marine resource management, maritime law enforcement, blue economy frameworks, and questions of blue justice, the workshop explores how competing sustainability narratives shape authority, legitimacy, and power at sea. Ultimately, the workshop asks what forms of sustainability and justice are being institutionalised through contemporary ocean governance, whose interests they serve, and what these evolving practices mean for the future of the ocean.

Organiser:

Dr. Anja Menzel (anja.menzel(at)uni-bamberg.de)

Registration:

To attend the roundtable online (Thursday 17:30), please register by email at claudia.genslein(at)uni-bamberg.de.

Preliminary Programme:

Thursday, 7 May 2026
13:00 – 13:15	Welcome and Introduction
13:15 – 14:45	Conceptualising Ocean Governance Transformations Prof. Dr. Stefan Partelow Center for Life Ethics, Universität Bonn Scaling pathways for effective ocean governance Dr. Anja Menzel Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg Waves of Tension or Tides of Synergy? Conceptualising the Security-Sustainability Nexus at Sea
14:45 – 15:15	Coffee break
15:15 – 16:45	Who Governs the Ocean? Authority, Actors, and Property Regimes Dr. Annegret Kuhn Strategy Group Speaker ‚Marine Social & Cultural Sciences‘, German Marine Research Consortium (KDM); Center for Ocean and Society, University of Kiel Non-state Actors in International Marine Governance: New Trends and Implications for Ocean Sustainability Prof. Dr. Achim Schlüter Professor for Institutional Economics and Ocean Governance, University of Bremen; Working Group Leader ‘Coastal Resources and Sustainable Blue Economy ‘, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research Ocean Privatisation: the ‘processes of property’ occurring in the world’s maritime domains
17:00 – 18:30	Roundtable: The Future of Sustainable Ocean Governance (Research) (hybrid) Bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives, our roundtable explores the future of sustainable ocean governance in times of rapid environmental and geopolitical change. We will discuss emerging research priorities, key normative challenges, and the role of collaboration across disciplines. Join us for a forward-looking conversation on shaping a shared research agenda and advancing sustainable ocean governance at large. Confirmed panellists: Lisa Otto (Johannesburg), Kimberley Peters (Oldenburg), Louis Celliers (Hamburg), Carolijn van Noort (Aalborg)
Friday, 8 May 2026
09:00 – 10:30	Imagining the Ocean: Knowledge, Narratives, and Governance Futures Dr. Charlotte Gehrke Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University of Oldenburg, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research Geoimagineering Polar Oceans: How Geopoliticization Shapes Future Imaginaries of Sustainability at Sea Louis Celliers, PhD Climate, Coasts & Oceans - Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon GmbH Ocean governance - out of sight, out of mind! Easing tensions and creating opportunities for seamless (human, coasts, atmosphere and ocean) governance
10:30 – 10:45	Coffee break
10:45 – 12:15	Implementing Ocean Sustainability: Technologies, Regions, and Policy Challenges Dr. Barbara Neumann Research Group Lead Ocean Governance, Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences Potsdam Ocean governance and marine carbon dioxide removal - challenges and ways forwards Fenja Kroos Ecologic Institute Berlin Arctic Ocean governance in times of rapid change
12:15 – 13:15	Lunch break
13:15 – 14:45	Justice at Sea: Rethinking Participation and Inequality Prof. Dr. Carolijn van Noort Centre for Blue Governance, University of Aalborg Dealing with norms of participation in transdisciplinary marine governance research Dr. Lisa Otto Director SARChI Chair African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, University of Johannesburg Where Culture and Policy Clash: Climate Crisis, Ocean Sustainability and Governance Gaps in the Pacific
15:00 – 15:30	Concluding discussion: Future Trajectories of Sustainable Ocean Governance (Research)

Uni Bamberg News

Sustainability at Sea: Transformations in Contemporary Ocean Governance