Ambassadors for Biodiversity (EmBio) is an ocean literacy research project that contributes to the improvement of literacy on marine and coastal biodiversity, namely encompassing the areas covered by the Natura 2000 Network, by promoting coastal and oceanic resources conservation and natural and cultural values preservation of the Portuguese western Atlantic coast. This project directly promotes the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the implementation of 2030 Agenda developed by the United Nations and adopted by most countries in the world, which define the priorities and aspirations for global sustainable development until the year of 2030, mobilizing a world-wide effort to meet a common set of goals and objectives. This paper contributes to understanding how ocean literacy, and specifically the EmBio research project, fits into the international agenda for sustainable development and the SDGs and its targets. Through an analysis and a comparison between the project EmBio and the SDGs, it was possible to identify connections on 11 out of 17 goals and 31 out of 169 targets, with a special emphasis on the SDG 14—Life Below Water. The results highlight the relevance of this project and, especially, ocean literacy for the accomplishment of the SDGs.

Marine litter has been considered one of the most serious global challenges, requiring urgent action by governmental bodies, especially in African Small Island Developing States (SIDS), where resources and research are limited. In addition to this, waste management and environmental education and ocean literacy programs in schools are scarce, with islands suffering more seriously from these problems. Despite the amount of literature regarding causes and impacts of marine litter, there is still not enough research conducted concerning the public perceptions on both the problem and the potential solutions. This is even more noticeable in African developing countries, where resources and research are scarce. Perception plays a key role for ecosystem management and conservation policies. This study intends to explore the perceptions of local island fishing communities in Cape Verde regarding marine litter, in order to contribute for an improvement of marine ecosystem management and development of conservation policies. To achieve that, two participatory sessions were conducted in two communities in the island of Santiago—Porto Mosquito and Porto Gouveia—where brainstorming and active listening were used to create shared and authentic spaces for dialogue between the members of the community. Results show that the population of both communities were very aware of the marine litter problem. They were able to identify the lack of a proper waste management system in the island and the inappropriate behaviours of the population as the main causes of this problem. Equipment damages and the presence of plastic inside the fish were the most relevant impacts identified by the participants. These findings reinforce previous research on the importance of public engagement and environmental education to contribute to the conservation of marine ecosystems and to build a strong collaborative ocean governance.

Duarte, C.M.; Ferreira, J.C., and Fortes, J., 2020. Risk modelling in urban coastal areas to support adaptation to climate change and extreme weather events: Early warning, emergency planning and risk management systems. In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 785–789. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The Portuguese coast is exposed to the Atlantic high-energy storms, endangering populations and coastal infrastructures and causing economic and environmental losses. With climate change and the rise of sea-level, it is expected that these storms became more frequent and violent. For this reason, it is essential to provide the authorities with tools for managing the hazards and risks associated with coastal events. The purpose of the To-SEAlert project is to develop, implement, and validate a set of tools and methodologies based on a WebGIS to monitor, prevent and manage wave overtopping and flooding emergencies caused by coastal events. In this work, XBeach software was used to model the effects of storm induced wave overtopping and sea erosion in a low-lying sandy shore in Costa da Caparica, Portugal. Two experiments were carried out, simulating a storm event in a segment and in a grid area. Results show beach and dune erosion and wave overtopping, similar to recorded effects in past events, and important limitations are discussed. The improvement of these simulations can be essential to input data on the To-SEAlert project model, allowing its objectives accomplishment.