MARE Conference 2025

Deep-dive into the governance of deep-sea restoration REDRESS at the MARE conference Between 24 and 27 June 2025, REDRESS project participants Nadia Papadopoulou, Chris Smith, Johanna Buerkert and Marloes Kraan participated in the MARE conference (https://marecentre.nl/). Under the theme “Tensions, Trade-offs, and Transformations for the Ocean Decade and Beyond”, the conference explored tensions, trade-offs, and the potential transformations required for the future of sustainable marine resource management and governance, thriving coastal livelihoods and healthy, biodiverse oceans. The discussions at the conference were arranged around four main themes:

1. Tensions in Ocean Spaces and Coastal Communities
2. Trade-offs in Blue Economy Development
3. Transformations for Ocean Governance
4. Contested Knowledge Production for the Ocean Decade

As part of Theme 3, the REDRESS project organized a panel titled “All hands on deck: Transformations in the governance of deep-sea restoration activities”. Nadia Papadopoulou (HCMR) presented the REDRESS project to the audience and provided an overview of marine governance arrangement theory and the goals of WP5 in the context of the Nature Restoration Law. Her presentation, based on a multi-author, multi-country and multi-disciplinary collaboration, set the scene by highlighting the relevance of the deep-sea, as well as the need for research into governance of deep-sea restoration. Chris Smith (HCMR/SERE) then introduced the deep-sea as a new frontier. His presentation, developed together with Sahar Stevenson-Jones and Boris Barov from SERE gave an overview of SERE’s work in relation to restoration and introduced the audience to restoration standards and principles applicable to deep-sea restoration. Johanna Buerkert followed with an overview of the Dohrn Canyon restoration case, another multi author work, presenting first findings from the case-based governance arrangement analysis done as part of Task 5.1. The final presentation by Elisa Cavallin with An Cliquet as co-author (Ghent University, SERE legal team), contextualized the EU Nature Restoration Law within the existing legal context, highlighting the advancements that this new framework will bring. We concluded the panel with a lively audience discussion. Attending the MARE conference was a great opportunity to expand the reach of REDRESS by presenting to legal scholars and marine social scientists, many of which were unfamiliar with deep-sea restoration prior to our presentation. The conference also provided the ideal setting to link up with other EU Horizon projects focusing on governance of the marine space, such as the CROSSGOV and the PERMAGOV projects, and also to engage with the ongoing conservation and restoration work on both coastal and deep-sea ecosystems, such as in the CLIMAREST and DEEPREST projects. Involvement of REDRESS members in the organization of MARE by being chair of the conference (Marloes) and contributing to the early-career researcher’s special program (Johanna) meant that we could additionally spread the REDRESS-spirit broader than just the conference hall. Thanks to everyone that has made this conference a success. Onwards and upwards for the next one! SER DENVER, September 2025.