The Roses Ocean and Human Health Chair: A New Way to Engage the Public in Oceans and Human Health Challenges

Abstract

Special issue Oceans and Human Health: The Importance of Marine Ecosystems on Human Health and Wellbeing.-- 17 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145078 ; Involving and engaging stakeholders is crucial for studying and managing the complex interactions between marine ecosystems and human health and wellbeing. The Oceans and Human Health Chair was founded in the town of Roses (Catalonia, Spain, NW Mediterranean) in 2018, the fruit of a regional partnership between various stakeholders, and for the purpose of leading the way to better health and wellbeing through ocean research and conservation. The Chair is located in an area of the Mediterranean with a notable fishing, tourist, and seafaring tradition and is close to a marine reserve, providing the opportunity to observe diverse environmental conditions and coastal and maritime activities. The Chair is a case study demonstrating that local, collaborative, transdisciplinary, trans-sector, and bottom-up approaches offer tremendous opportunities for engaging coastal communities to help support long-lasting solutions that benefit everyone, and especially those living by the sea or making their living from the goods and services provided by the sea. Furthermore, the Chair has successfully integrated most of its experts in oceans and human health from the most prestigious institutions in Catalonia. The Chair focuses on three main topics identified by local stakeholders: Fish and Health; Leisure, Health, and Wellbeing; and Medicines from the Sea. Led by stakeholder engagement, the Chair can serve as a novel approach within the oceans and human health field of study to tackle a variety of environmental and public health challenges related to both communicable and non-communicable diseases, within the context of sociocultural issues. Drawing on the example provided by the Chair, four principles are established to encourage improved participatory processes in the oceans and human health field: bottom-up, "think local", transdisciplinary and trans-sectorial, and "balance the many voices" ; The Chair is supported by the Town Council of Roses, the Fisher's Association of Roses, the Fishmongers Guild of Catalonia, and the University of Girona. Mireia Gascon holds a Miguel Servet fellowship (Grant CP19/00183) funded by Acción Estratégica de Salud—Instituto de Salud Carlos III, co-funded by the European Social Fund "Investing in your future". The research was supported in part by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 774567 (H2020 SOPHIE Project) and No 666773 (H2020 BlueHealth Project); the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the UK Research and Innovation's Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) for the Blue Communities Project and NERC Case PhD. Arnau Carreño holds a doctoral fellowship funded by the Town Council of Tossa de Mar and the Chair