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Notification inviting offers to host regional workshops, coordinating authors’ meetings, and writing teams’ workshops, in support of the fourth cycle of the Regular Process and its fourth World Ocean Assessment (WOA IV)

The Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, as the secretariat of the Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects (Regular Process), invites offers to host regional workshops, coordinating authors’ meetings, and writing teams’ workshops, as provided for in the programme of work for the fourth cycle of the Regular Process (2026-2030).

According to the programme of work these events will play a key role in supporting the scoping of the next World Ocean Assessment, while at the same time identifying regional priorities, building capacity aimed at strengthening the science-policy interface, and raise awareness of the Regular Process and its World Ocean Assessments.
 

Regional workshops to inform the scoping for the fourth World Ocean Assessment, including capacity-building components

Five five-day regional workshops in support of the implementation of the fourth cycle of the Regular Process, including capacity-building components, are expected to be held in 2026. The workshops will contribute to the scoping exercise and the development of the annotated outline for the fourth World Ocean Assessment (WOA IV). They will also aim to build regional capacity to engage in the assessment process, collect regional-level data, raise awareness of the Regular Process, and encourage contributions from the scientific community to the drafting of the assessment.

 

 

 

  • Bangkok, Thailand, from 9 to 11 December 2026

    • Notification
    • Application (deadline - 5 October 2026)
    • Agenda and Timetable (forthcoming)
    • Information for participants (forthcoming)
    • Pre-workshop survey for participants (forthcoming)

 

Coordinating authors’ meetings and writing teams’ workshops

Three three-day coordinating author meetings will be organized, with one meeting to be held in 2028 and two in 2029. These meetings will facilitate the drafting of chapters and provide an opportunity for coordinating authors to strengthen coherence across the fourth World Ocean Assessment (WOA IV).

In addition, three five-day writing team workshops, including capacity-building components, will be organized on topics or themes to be determined by the Group of Experts, with two workshops to be held in 2028 and one in 2029. These workshops will provide a platform for writing teams to engage in in-depth thematic discussions, promote knowledge-sharing and enhance capacity-building to support science-informed decision-making.

All the above-mentioned activities will cover the following five regions: 
- South Atlantic
- South Pacific
- North Atlantic, the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea
- Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and the ROPME/RECOFI area
- North Pacific

In this regard, Member States and members of the United Nations specialized agencies or related organizations are invited to consider hosting or co-hosting any of the above-mentioned activities as an in-kind contribution to the Regular Process.

In this regard, Member States and members of the United Nations specialized agencies or related organizations are invited to consider hosting or co-hosting any of the above-mentioned activities as an in-kind contribution to the Regular Process. ST/AI/342, entitled “Guidelines for the preparation of host government agreements falling under General Assembly resolution 40/243”, as adjusted to the operational details of each event.

Any requests for information in this regard should be addressed to the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of this Office (doalos@un.org), with a copy to Ms. Elena Temnova (temnova@un.org).