Professor Ronán Long presented research on interactions between ocean governance regimes and institutions, with particular attention to the BBNJ Agreement and its relationship with existing frameworks. He also stressed the importance of providing extensive work in terms of cooperative engagement and regional contributions and highlighted his forthcoming book The BBNJ Agreement in Action, co-authored with Dr. Mariamalia Rodríguez Chaves. Case studies include the Costa Rica Thermal Dome, the Sargasso Sea, and the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges.

Associate Professor Aleke Stöfen-O’Brien discussed work on inclusive ocean governance, rights-based approaches, and stronger participation by non-state actors in the development of international law, amongst others. Research and engagement activities under this pillar span various topics including equitable global partnership, youth engagement, capacity development, and knowledge transfer, alongside contributions to discussions on the BBNJ Agreement and international plastics treaty negotiations. The Pillar is further supported by two project and research supports; Tim Pöppel and Akrita Kaur and two interns funded by the German Government and Erasmus+; Augustina Schick and Justus Hamm.

Progress was also reviewed under Pillar 3, with principal investigators Associate Professor Tafsir Matin Johansson and Assistant Professor Aspasia Pastra. Emphasis was laid on the pillar aim to co-design a future blueprint for ocean observation technologies as well as the necessity for developing governance frameworks to support their effective use. The efforts to meet the pillar aim include research on artificial intelligence in Antarctica and collaborative initiatives spanning three working groups: the Ocean Data Working Group, the Marine Genetic Resources Scientific Committee and the GEBCO subcommittee on education and training.

Assistant Professor Ríán Derrig and Postdoctoral Fellow Vonintsoa Rafaly presented research on Pillar 4, including future-oriented approaches to ocean governance,  the political economy of the BBNJ Agreement and studies on seabed mining beyond national jurisdiction. They also highlighted corresponding publications and academic collaboration through the 2026 Öresund International Law Workshop which took place on 30 September in WMU and concluded with the potential development of a Working Group on Ocean Futures.

PhD candidates Ayo Pacheco and Suriya Narayanan Sundararajan presented their research findings on equitable data governance for the BBNJ Clearing-House Mechanism in the Benguela Current region, investigating the institutions, infrastructure and actor-level conditions for  developing an equitable data governance framework, and  on  the legal challenges in regime interaction vis-à-vis the deployment of ocean observation technologies in areas beyond national jurisdiction, using the Saya de Malha Bank as a case study to develop a conceptual liability framework, respectively.