Launch of the FUTURO research programme
16.12.2025
West African and European partners are developing a long-term research programme with a one-year observation campaign off the coast of West Africa.
From November 24 to 26, the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, together with project partners from West Africa and Europe, including experts from Kiel University, organised a co-design workshop for the FUTURO (Future West African Marine Ecosystem) research project in the Senegalese coastal town of Saly. The nearly 70 participants from various sectors, including 50 from seven West African countries and regional organizations, jointly developed concrete research topics and programme elements for FUTURO.
SALY Declaration on milestones in international cooperation has been adopted
A central element of FUTURO is an international research expedition that, starting in 2029, will study the tropical Atlantic off West Africa over the course of a year. At the end of the workshop the participants adopted the "Saly Declaration," which calls for international cooperation and defines key priorities and concrete elements of the programme.
The ongoing changes in the marine ecosystem off West Africa are complex and challenging: rising temperatures, declining oxygen levels, acidification, and increasing overfishing are shaping a region that provides a livelihood for hundreds of millions of people. The international research programme FUTURO (Future West African Marine Ecosystems) is coordinated by GEOMAR and will address these challenges. As one of its first major identified activities, it will conduct a large-scale, year-long ship-based campaign off the West African coast, beginning in 2029. The aim is to establish a scientific basis for the protection and sustainable use of the West African ecosystem – particularly with regards to accelerating climate change and fishing pressure.
FUTURO focuses on co-design
Off the coast of West Africa lies an exceptionally productive and biodiverse ecosystem that provides food and income for 200 million people. The FUTURO study area therefore encompasses the waters from Mauritania in the north to Sierra Leone in the south, extending westwards as far as Cape Verde. The planned one-year research expedition aims to improve our understanding and the sustainable management of the tropical upwelling zone in the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa, involving stakeholders from decision-makers, society, and science at an early stage.
“The meeting in Senegal was a crucial step in developing the co-design process with our West African partners. The goal was to identify socially relevant issues and to begin formulating ideas on how marine research can contribute to addressing these challenges," says Dr. Christian Wagner-Ahlfs, Coordinator for Transdisciplinary Research at the priority research area Kiel Marine Science (KMS) at Kiel University and Co-Chair of the co-design working group that conceptualized the FUTURO workshop in Senegal. In Saly, he jointly led a session with partners from the ZMT in Bremen and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) to foster a shared understanding of the co-design approach.
In addition to large-scale research expeditions, a trusting relationship with local stakeholders has been an important part of the FUTURO research program since its inception: The research is being developed jointly with the people who live and work in the region or hold political responsibility in the local communities. A three-day workshop in the Senegalese coastal town of Saly brought together representatives from numerous partner organizations during the last week. These included researchers, political decision-makers, members of civil society organizations, and representatives from the private sector. Nearly 70 participants from the seven West African countries of Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal, and Sierra Leone, as well as from Europe, met to jointly develop and refine the FUTURO research programme.
Bringing together actors from politics, society and science
FUTURO is an officially endorsed project of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) under the umbrella of the “SEAWARD Africa” Decade Programme. The FUTURO Decade project is jointly led by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Sub-Commission for Africa and Adjacent Island States (IOC-AFRICA) and the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel. It includes the marine research institutes Instituto de Mar (IMar), Cabo Verde; Oceanographic Research Center of Dakar-Thiaroye (CRODT), Senegal; Institut Mauritanien de Recherches Océanographiques et des Pêches (IMROP), Mauritania; and the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Bremen.
The workshop was funded by GEOMAR, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the priority research area Kiel Marine Science (KMS) at Kiel University. "For the FUTURO project, co-design means developing research questions and approaches together with the affected local people as equal partners in an interactive process, in order to create solutions that meet their actual needs and local conditions. Only in this way is knowledge created that gains broad acceptance and has a lasting impact." says Prof. Dr. Arne Körtzinger, chemical oceanographer at GEOMAR and scientific coordinator of FUTURO.
The “Saly Declaration” as a joint signal
At the conclusion of the workshop, participants adopted the “Saly Declaration” – a strong call to participate in FUTURO, to strengthen cooperation between science and society in West Africa, and to support it with the necessary political and financial framework. “With the Saly Declaration, we are jointly assuming responsibility for the important marine ecosystem off the coast of West Africa, one of the most productive regions in the ocean,” said Edwin Mwashinga, Program Officer at IOC AFRICA.
FUTURO continues to place a strong emphasis on training, networking, and empowering a new generation of ocean professionals, equipping them with the tools to manage marine and human resources in a transdisciplinary and multisectoral manner. During the Saly co-design kick-off meeting, Early-Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs) came together to share their vision for the programme and articulate their needs. Key requirements identified included practical skills training, inclusion in networks of ocean professionals, participation in the blue economy, and strengthened infrastructure for scientific capacity building. As part of the co-design process, the idea of establishing an “Education and Learning Hub” was further developed. This hub will be co-led by a regional expert and PD Dr. Avan Antia, Global Learning Coordinator at KMS in Kiel. In her role as Co-Lead of the Education and Learning Hub, and as an Enabler at the ECOP event, she supported participants during the Saly workshop in brainstorming ideas for an “Action Plan on Education and Co-Learning.”
What happens next?
The preparatory phase for the year-long field study is currently underway. In the coming months, the workshop results will be incorporated into the work programme and the development of further scientific modules for FUTURO. Simultaneously, the partner institutions are working on, among other things, funding plans and the establishment of transdisciplinary working groups. The actual year-long research expedition is scheduled to begin in 2029, followed by a synthesis phase, in which new findings will be jointly evaluated and translated into policy recommendations. The long-term goal is to establish FUTURO as an international programme with strong African leadership.