Amidst the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science, along with the international community intend to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda 2030, one of the most important steps is to realize the “interconnectess” of the ocean themes, and how we can all relate to them.

Climate changes are currently promoting a series of discussions globally, since this situation assemble new and diverse challenges to society. And the core of this dialogues has been the ocean, as seen in the Third United Nations Oceans Conference, which occurred in Nice (France) from 9 to 13 June 2025, and where representants from all over the world demonstrated their concern with ocean preservation and understood its important role in the climate change consequences.

In this scenario, The Ocean Incubator Network (OIN) Project arises as an innovative and diverse approach to ocean studies. Funded by the UArctic (Tromsø), developed by Laura Vita and led by Margherita Paola Poto and Giuliana Panieri during 2023-2025, the Project aimed to aggregate a myriad of different scholars, thinkers, students, activists and Indigenous Peoples from several countries and fields, such as Law, Global Health, Ecolinguists, Climate and Environmental Studies, Biology, among others.

The goal was to develop a collaborative work with a multidisciplinary approach, understanding the positionality behind every author and allowing a rupture in the Eurocentric way of thinking science. It produced two milestones: a Living Laboratory, where discussions and interactive activities were performed; and a Toolkit, a book that made it possible to gather all the ideas that were exchanged between the participants. This book, which is open access, has a conceptual framework divided in two pathways (“Connecting with Each Other” and “Connecting with the Ocean”), and three thematic areas (positionality; inter-,trans- and cross-disciplinarity; and co-creation).

The book brings a sensible approach to science, allowing to understand and accept the background of the researcher (instead of assuming an unrealistic impartiality). Also, the whole Project aimed to present a representative perspective of ocean studies, recognizing the importance of women in science, and respecting the knowledge from Indigenous Peoples to advance ocean literacy and research, since they can offer significant contributions to climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Divided in two parts, the first part focuses on explaining the theoretical proposals of positionality (highlighting the importance of reflexivity and self-knowledge of privileges and personal worldviews of the researcher, and how this affects the research process); the difference between inter-, trans- and cross-disciplinarity and how they all can be applied to ocean studies; and co-creation (as a methodological approach in which a subjective component, being the diverse array of collaborating actors, and an objective component, being the interaction of diverse disciplines, come together to fruition).

The second part of the book reinforces the Project’s intend of representativity and innovative ways of thinking about the ocean. The last chapters propose the insertion of relationality and care through ocean research, “advocating for a shift towards ocean literacy, emphasizing the interconnectedness and interdependence between humans and the marine environment through the values of relationality and care” (Tugend M., p. 171, 2025).

In addition, the second part also underscores the importance of changing the way we think, interact and study nature itself, reflecting upon the knowledge from Indigenous Peoples to inspire a different mentality towards the ocean. Furthermore, the second part of the book also brings a series of activities that can be implemented in schools or other interactive places to promote an innovative educational ocean consciousness in social communities.

This type of initiative is amazing to help spreading ocean awareness amidst climate changes. The proposal of comprehending the positionality of the researcher; along with the respect towards women and Indigenous Peoples knowledge; in addition to a shift in a way we understand science, nature and ocean studies (including self-reflection, relationality, care and accessibility) is a necessary and pivotal approach not only to ocean studies, but to research in general. Besides, the framework based on inter-, trans- and cross-disciplinarity and co-creation is essential for researchers to understand and apply their expertise in a multidisciplinary, systemic and collaborative manner, in the way the ocean needs it to be.