Next Ocean Race Summit to focus on restoring ocean health

The Ocean Race has announced the second in its current series of Ocean Race Summits will take place as scheduled on 27 May, beginning at 14:00 CEST.

Streaming live from The Hague, it will now take the format of an interactive TV show and include break-out Action Labs.

The Ocean Race Summits have been developed over the past five years in collaboration with 11th Hour Racing, the founding Sustainability Partner of The Ocean Race. The series continues to bring leaders and other change-makers together, sharing solutions and winning strategies to restore ocean health, inspired by the spirit of ocean racing.

“These times of unprecedented change demonstrate even more clearly that the ocean is not a dividing area, but a common ground for all mankind. It is therefore all the more important to share proven solutions and learn from science and successful strategies,” says Richard Brisius, Race Chairman of The Ocean Race.

“Thanks to true teamwork, we are pleased to be able to continue The Ocean Race Summits series on schedule. We have developed a new format that we hope the participants will find engaging and which may set the scene for future virtual summits.”

The Summit will bring together a group of 200 ocean conservation experts and advocates including business leaders and policy makers, scientists and technicians, solutions innovators, athletes, skippers, ocean advocates, environmental justice campaigners, marketers and storytellers, behavioural scientists, sports psychologists, young wavemakers, and those living and working with the ocean.

Among the confirmed participants is Ambassador Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, who says: “The Ocean Race Summits demonstrate we can apply innovative solutions to the challenges of climate and ocean change.

“The summits join in the international push to ensure the COVID-19 pandemic does not damage efforts to conserve and sustainably use the ocean’s resources. They represent a positive contribution by all concerned towards maintaining the momentum of beneficial action on the ocean’s behalf. With the commencement of the UN Decade for Ocean Science next year, we must sharpen our focus on how we can safeguard the healthy ocean we need, in order to come to the future we want.”

The goal for The Ocean Race Summits is to identify solutions and to facilitate meaningful action. Experts are exploring ways to apply behavioural science, sports psychology and marketing tools to make an impact. The winning strategies required to be successful in an offshore racing campaign can be applied in this context.

Topics being explored include Winning Strategies, The Science of Action, Nature-based Rights, Post-2020 Decisions and Actions, Brands for Impact, and The Dutch Perspective.

Participation in the Summit is primarily by invitation, but a portion of the broadcast will be streamed live for public viewing on www.theoceanrace.com and highlight elements will be available on demand following the Summit.