Arctik and the Ocean: Connecting people and policy
Ocean policy is more than regulations and strategies. It is all around us: our ecosystems, our heritage, the water we depend on, the livelihoods of local communities building their future. For Arctik, the idea is clear: policy only becomes meaningful when people can see it, relate to it, and act on it.
The European Union has set ambitious objectives through the EU Mission: Restore our Ocean and Waters, restoring ecosystems, cutting pollution, and building a circular blue economy. These goals are backed by the Biodiversity Strategy 2030, the Zero Pollution Action Plan, and the recent adopted European Ocean Pact. These frameworks are essential, but often complex and distant from everyday life. Arctik’s role is to bring them closer.
With Mission Ocean and Waters, Arctik works with over 1,000 organisations pledging voluntary actions under the Mission. Our team also supports monthly exchanges among 80 Horizon Europe projects funded under the Mission, and guide 34 organisations in developing bold ideas through feasibility studies.
Arctik’s mission is not to simplify policy, but to humanise it. We translate technical language into engaging narratives: from a remote island in Estonia harvesting seaweed to produce gin and kick-start their sustainable blue economy pathway, to young ocean ambassadors competing each month to collect the most plastic, to projects restoring ecosystems with indigenous communities in Norway or scientists creating a Digital Twin of our ocean, all are inspiring, and full of potential for replication.
Whether through social media campaigns featuring videos and articles capturing drops of change, we ensure communities understand the relevance of ocean policy in their daily lives, and how it applies to them.
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This is a glimpse of what we are doing with the Mission Ocean and Waters diverse community of researchers, universities, entrepreneurs, public, private, local and regional actors driving change and impact. One of the recent efforts involved a campaign launched in the 24 official languages of the EU which reached over 7,000,000 communities of islands, ports and fisheries on social media to provide technical support to meet their goals aligned with the Mission. At Arctik, we connect people to policy. Because when people are informed, supported and involved, transformation becomes possible.