PRESS RELEASE
Greifswald, 10 June 2025
From 9 to 13 June 2025, the fifth UN Ocean Conference is taking place in Nice – a key international forum for advancing Sustainable Development Goal 14 of the 2030 Agenda: Life Below Water – Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. As part of the One Science Congress, a scientific side event of the UNOC held from 2 to 6 June 2025, the Interdisciplinary Research Centre for the Baltic Sea Region (IFZO) at the University of Greifswald contributed two forward-looking presentations based on research conducted in the ecologically sensitive Baltic Sea region.
Prof. Dr. Susanne Stoll-Kleemann, Professor of Sustainability Science, presented findings together with Rebecca Demmler in a talk titled "Assessing Ocean Literacy in Coastal Tourist Regions: A Comparative Analysis of Knowledge, Perception, Emotion and Behavior among Tourists and Residents on the French Mediterranean and German Baltic Sea Coasts". Their work focuses on how visitors and local populations perceive the ocean, and how this can inform transformative strategies and communication approaches for different stakeholder groups.
Rebecca Demmler, IFZO doctoral researcher, explored in her presentation "Enhancing Ocean-Friendly Behavior: The Role of Self-Efficacy and Responsibility Attributions among Residents and Tourists on the French Mediterranean Sea Coast", how perceived self-efficacy influences ocean-friendly behavior — a key prerequisite for active engagement in environmental and coastal protection.
With these contributions, the IFZO researchers make a valuable addition to the conference themes "Integrating knowledge systems, with a focus on responsibility and respect for the ocean" and "Vibrant science to inform and support ocean action."
The presented research is based on comparative studies of the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas, two endangered marine ecosystems with similar ecological and geographical characteristics. The insights gained serve as a model for global solutions: they demonstrate how experience with a vulnerable regional space can foster global awareness and inform the development of sustainable action strategies — while also strengthening the protection of our local marine environments in concrete ways.
Contact:
Interdisziplinäres Forschungszentrum Ostseeraum (IFZO)
Universität Greifswald
www.ifzo.uni-greifswald.de
