UrbanOcean proposes a transformative, interdisciplinary approach to understand and manage the cumulative impacts of large-scale OW development on open ocean ecosystems. The project introduces the concept of "urbanization of the ocean," drawing parallels between OW development and terrestrial urbanization to holistically assess ecological, social, and economic consequences.
Main Research Questions:
•RQ1: How do local impacts of OWF stressors scale up to influence fish across broader seascape levels and through different phases of OWF development? (WP1, WP2)
•RQ2: How does OW affect migration in fish (e.g., via delays in migration, changes in routes), and to what extent do OWFs interfere with critical migratory corridors in the North Sea and Baltic Sea? (WP2, WP1)
•RQ3: To what extent can integrated holistic socio-ecological modeling predict the cumulative impacts of OWF on biodiversity, fisheries, and coastal communities, and inform transformation towards sustainable marine spatial planning? (WP 3)
UrbanOcean stelt een transformatieve, interdisciplinaire aanpak voor om de cumulatieve impact van grootschalige Offshore Wind-ontwikkeling op open oceaanecosystemen te begrijpen en beheren. Het project introduceert het concept van "verstedelijking van de oceaan" en trekt parallellen tussen OW-ontwikkeling
en terrestrische verstedelijking om ecologische, sociale en economische gevolgen holistisch te beoordelen.