MAIN CHARACTERS

Ahmed Rizzo (fisherman), 19 years old – mostly action
The ‘leading’ character. By playing this character, young and brave, the player will experience difficulties of the fishery sector, due to institutional constraints, racquet, and official legal regulations (which aim to guarantee sustainability). Naïve at the beginning of the game, Ahmed will get the more in more experienced (new fishing techniques, new strategies for growing economically and facing obstacles…) as the videogame goes on. His choices will also include some ethical concerns that will not prevent goals achievement (ex. to meet with success by means of fair vs. unscrupulous actions; environment respectful vs. damaging initiatives etc.)

Antonio Costello (politician, owner of ‘CFC’, a fishing Company) – mostly strategy
This character is mostly engaged in diplomatic deals and management of budget / resources (including fish stocks). Antonio viewpoint is rather comprehensive of the reality. Antonio is aware of the status of the sea, political constraints, economic challenges etc. The ethical concerns (i.e. conflicts of interest) obviously come along with choices at “VIP” level (ex. business vs. political priorities etc.).

Maria Papakis (marine researcher) – stealth-based / spy fiction
This character gets engaged in various enigmas. Maria will soon carry out her personal investigations. She will use her scientific background (and skills) to help for things going correctly. Maria priorities focus on the respect for the environment. Maria may be dragged (voluntarily or not) into bad choices (ex. as a consequence of her “career” ambitions) or underestimate the importance of “social issues” (i.e. the fisherman conditions) when prioritizing the environment… again the ethical issues have a highlight. This character provides the player with the possibility to explore (i.e. by virtual diving) the undersea space and discovering the magic world of the marine life.

MINOR CHARACTERS (NPC) – (sources of conflicts)
Some suggestions:
- Fish market (traders, unloaders, people buying etc.)
- Security force (Police, coastguard, civil defence etc.)
- Mafia, racquet
- Mayor, Public Administration
- Trade union, syndicate
- Research organisations, NGOs
- …

Along with the game evolution, characters may align themselves either with positive (faithful, honest, in compliance with the law) or negative (corrupted, violent, elements). This will obviously bring to conflicts among opposite (good and bad) parties.

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Suggestions:
- By dialogues >< Dialogues may be carried out by using pre-formatted phrases (either easygoing or aggressive) from a list to be accessed
- By promotional / sensitizing campaigns >< this can trig other players into a merging attitude
- Formal reports / complaints to ‘security force(s)’ >< in this case a preliminary action aiming to collect evidence / proofs against a target character might be foreseen
- Funds / resources allocation >< strategic actions of funds / resources allocation can be called, for example, to reorient a degraded situation so as to prevent worst consequences (ex. strikes, reprisals, resignations etc.)

SYNOPSIS / GAMEPLAY – (STORYBOARDS)

Fisherman storyboard:
Ahmed Rizzo, 19 years old inhabitant of a Sicilian suburb, works hardly to sustain his family (two brothers and three sisters). His father, working 7/7, 14 hours per day has a minimum salary. His mother, former cashier in a supermarket, lost the job. While looking for some black work in the harbour, as to his routinely life, Ahmed bumps in a toughs’ group beating a young (about 15 yrs old) boy. He instinctively steps in and suddenly feels in a real danger. Luckily, he is a kind of survivors. He has learned a lot during his childhood in the Sicilian suburb and that is why, at the end, he outflanks the three toughs who run away.
The young boy thanks and inform Ahmed about his situation. He is actually the son of a rich owner of a Fish Company, whom is also a powerful political representative, supervising the correct (legal) use of local maritime areas.
Once introduced to the rich father of the boy, namely Antonio Costello (one major character of the game), Ahmed benefits of his special offer to embark, as a sailor, in one of the fishing boat of Costello’s Company.

From that moment, Ahmed will experience various challenges, adventures and make choices that will bring him to various challenging events. Depending on those choices, he may be responsible of environmental threats or undertake special actions toward the sustainable use of the marine environment.

Politician storyboard:
Antonio Costello owns the ‘Costello Fish Company (CFC)’. He is an influential politician charged – inter alia – to control the sustainable use of the local maritime space and its resources. With the aim to educate his son to manage future responsibilities, Antonio commits him to control unloading activities of CFC boats at the dockside. Once, his son being late to come back home from work at the dockside, Antonio alerts the Security force. Few minutes later the boy appears. He is injured. Ahmed accompanies him. Informed (by his son) about the course of events, Antonio repays Ahmed for having saved his son by offering him a job. He proposes Ahmed to embark as a sailor for ‘CFC’ since next day. Ahmed accepts enthusiastically; thanks to this opportunity, he will provide his poor family with an additional, regular budget.
The events warned Antonio Costello about the state of poverty, juvenile delinquency and related social evils that beat down on his lovely town. Moreover, during a routinely walk around the coastline, he crosses a fishmonger selling banned articles such as sharks’ fishers, a collier made by sharks’ teeth, etc. What a disgusting scene!

Arguing with the fishmonger, Antonio is confronted with his first choice: (i) to join the black market activity (and become richer and richer); (ii) to simply ignore the situation or… (iii) to denounce / fight against it. This is the beginning of Antonio’s way. His choice will influence the other characters’ destiny since from this will depend, for example: the way Ahmed will exert his activity (legal/illegal, what he will be fishing and how, with whom he will deal etc.; the researcher’s investigation…

Researcher storyboard:
Maria Pakis is a young marine biologist who recently got a permanent position at the national research institute of her Country. Her studies focus on fish stocks distribution along the Sicilian coasts with respect, also, to the traditional ways of fishing. Maria is very fond of her studies and, more in general of marine life. Since her childhood, she is diving (her father was a professional diver). She therefore experienced directly all along her life the dramatic changes of the marine ecosystems and she is strongly decided to fight against further threats to the natural environments. Unluckily, the world she leaves in is far from being optimal; many fishermen do not follow the rules, industries contaminate (with or without permission) and, sometimes, the institutions that should intervene are lead by corrupted people. Working on some fish stocks analyses, Maria finds out a contraband of marine wildlife making use of local and international networks.

Since competent authorities get mixed up, Maria efforts to denounce it run into the buffers. As a young, inexperienced researcher, she feels threatened… and she does not know how to behave. They offer her money as a reward for keeping quiet. Worse yet, they propose to boosting her career while she will collaborate with them to produce (false) official expertise (so as to cover environmental threats due to some local industries’ activities). Here come ethical choices!

Regardless of her choice, Maria will cross both the politician Antonio Costello (i.e. during her inquiry on industrial impact on the marine environment), and the fisherman Ahmed Rizzo (i.e. during a sampling cruise onboard a ‘CFC’ boat).

They highlighted that, should international dialogue deteriorate, MGRs were at risk to loose their global market attractiveness, with clear implications for a potential loss of international public goods, and resulting threats to all countries as opportunities for increased scientific knowledge, value-added products and incentives for biodiversity conservation would be lost.

To make progress, the experts recommended in particular:

- placing the current debate in its historical context;

- comparing the existing (legal) instruments, so as to point out gaps and inconsistencies;

- Identifying the major stakeholders involved (i.e. research organizations, industrial representatives, governments/Ministries, Investors, NGOs, etc.) with possible focus on their interests and concerns.

In this film Frédéric Briand (CIESM) briefly summarizes the videoconference conclusions. He signals that the way forward is a balanced integration of global efforts – at WTO and UN levels – and regional studies (including field exercises) so as to complement general rules with more specific, contextual issues. CIESM foresees to set up targeted regional actions in the Mediterranean region, in collaboration with international partners. A number of sub-regional areas, suitable both for their biodiversity patterns and their socio-politic context, have been already identified.

View short videos on selected topics:

The Global Scene

From Research to Market

ABS Issues, challenges and actors: a Mediterranean Regional Perspective

National Perceptions of the Marine Biotechnology Sector

Setting the Scene: Objectives and Panelists

The movie shows a man taking flowers from a public garden – a metaphor to the global ocean – to decorate his living room. The film proposes alternative options regarding benefit sharing.

Today researchers sample marine life (sometimes using the traditional knowledge of local communities to access interesting organisms and marine areas in a country) and, upon returning back home, they privatize, and in some cases commercialize, “their” samples or the valuable products derived from them. [Are they playing by rules of the “public garden”?]

brief details:

-       Antony Taubman (WTO) suggests to set-up methodological analyses of existing individual contracts (i.e. through the classification of the wide range BT mechanisms into major “categories”), reviewing the way they were created (including the context) and the way they operate, with the aim to extract ‘general rules’.

-       Irini Papanicolopulu (UK) identifies some major challenges for these test cases, with emphasis on Law of the Sea implications. She indicates major role that international organisations could play in helping to identify shared principles.

-       Frédéric Briand (CIESM) proposes to use targeted (field) case studies  to complement the ‘theoretical’ exercises proposed by some participants.  For example, the Mediterranean region, with its diverse bio-geographical, socio-economic and cultural caracteristics, could serve the purpose optimally.

-       Pushpam Kumar (UNEP) and Frank Tirendi (Australia) argue on intangible benefits, including traditional knowledge, which should become ‘valuable’. Frank Tirendi underlines that there are many other concepts that need to be developed. He refers in particular to the costs of potential conflicts that may arise from the incorrect handling of BT-related issues.

This section explores some incentives that may help / support advances, from bio-mining and research activities to commercial and industrial development.

brief details:

-       Pushpam Kumar (UNEP) explores some economic perspectives based on UNEP experience.

-       Paulo Nunes (CIESM) describes current contracts’ landscapes, and points out that the one related to marine genetic resources ABS remains poor in case studies. He signals the potential of multilateral agreements by referring in particular to the success of the ‘clean development mechanism’ (CDM, Kyoto protocol).

-       Koichi Sumikura (Japan) points out the central role of the academic and research sectors in ABS governance.

-       Frank Tirendi (Australia) describes the Australian (central) bio-resource library, and the related distribution of benefits among the partners involved.

-       Pushpam Kumar (UNEP) and Antony Taubman (WTO) recommend advancing with methodological efforts towards the definition of (agreed) indicators (i.e. for measuring MGRs vs. benefits ‘values’, etc.) and the creation of reference benchmark(s). Empirical (test case) programs should be developed along such lines.

brief details:

-       Antony Taubman (WTO) illustrates the FAO treaty on plant genetic resources (which is consistent with the CBD), with emphasis on four main axes. (i) exchange of information, (ii) access to and transfer of technology, (iii) capacity building, and (iv) financial and commercial flows. Particular attention is paid to items that could be appropriate for agreements targeted to the Mediterranean region (i.e. adopting multilateral approaches).

-       Pushpam Kumar (UNEP) analyses economic perspectives of the application of property right principles in coastal and marine systems.

-       Andrew Farmer (UK) reflects on the role of spatial distribution of marine genetic resources for the identification of the custodians in the agreements.

-       Laura Giuliano (CIESM) underlines specific features of Mediterranean marine biogeography and the implication of identifying site-specificity for some organisms.

-       Daniel Pardo (France) stresses the pivotal role that should be granted to SMEs in developing benefit transfer mechanisms / models due to their large coverage of the biotechnology sector in Europe (80%).

-       Irini Papanicolopulu (UK) highlights relevant principles of the UN Law of the Sea and the principle of subsidiary. She stresses the importance of the identification of actors.

-       Frank Tirendi (Australia) draws attention to the joint jurisdictional nature of marine systems: sea bottom resources and the water column resources, and the need for recognise these (distinct) environments in the architecture of any BT agreement.

Participants report on the current state of the Marine Biotechnology sector (both from a science and an economic perspective) in their respective countries[1], with reference to successful stories that could inspire the way forward.

This video presents the experts who met in La Spezia in April 2011 to share their views on innovative approaches to benefit sharing in marine bioprospecting & biotechnology (with a specific spin on the Mediterranean perspectives).

Setting the scene: objectives and panelists

Frederic Briand, DG of the Mediterranean Science Commission (CIESM) and conference moderator, introduces the broad perimeter and objectives of the meeting to the participants who are invited to present themselves, in turn. The meeting benefited from the participation of: (1) Sonia Abdelhak, Head of Research Unit on Genetic Diseases, Institut Pasteur, Tunis, Tunisia ; (2) Bernard Commere, Research and Innovation Directorate, Ministry of Research, Paris, France; (3) Roberto Di Lauro, President Zoological Station, Italy; (4) Andrew Farmer, Director of Research, Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), UK; (5) Irini Papanicolopulu, Researcher, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, UK; (6) Daniel Pardo, Research Director, CNRS, Labour economics and sociology, Aix, France; (7) Laura Giuliano, Science Advisor, CIESM; (8) Paulo A.L.D. Nunes, Coordinator, Marine Economics Program, CIESM; (9) Mohamed A. Shreadah (remote from Cairo, Egypt), President NIOF;[1] (10) Pushpam Kumar (remote from Nairobi, Kenya), Chief of Unit, Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, UNEP; (11) Koichi Sumikura (remote from Tokyo, Japan) Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies; (12) Antony Taubman (remote from Genève, Switzerland ) Director, Intellectual Property Division, World Trade Organization; and, (13) Frank Tirendi (remote from Townsville, Australia) Business Manager, Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS).

FROM SCIENCE TO PUBLIC
This game desk was developed within a miniproposal for the special exhibition in the German Museum in Munich. The underlying idea was to develop an appealing device to illustrate the basic problem of a common pool resource to the public. The project brought together expertise from science, programming and design to fulfil this. ecoOcean has been successfully displayed on many occasions and has reached international attention.

AIM OF THE GAME
The primary goal of this computer game is to demonstrate the common pool problem to the interested public. 4 players have the target to achieve as much points as possible by catching fish. All players rely on the same fish stock and therefore compete for the resource, as given in common pool resources. The game is parameterized in a way that the fish stock will be depleted very soon, if all players catch as much as they can. Only by communicating and sticking to common rules, a sustainable, higher overall catch can be reached in the game.
The next step will be to use this spatially resolving model set-up for experimental economic research and to address questions of marine protected areas.
 
Download flyer in pdf
 

Game developed by: Jörn Schmidt, Dennis Nissen & Michel Magens, www.ecoocean.de