MeerWissen is an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) that seeks to provide policy-makers with the scientific information they need to take profound decisions for the effective management and conservation of Africa’s ocean and coasts. The project’s name ‘MeerWissen’ is a pun that plays on the German words for ‘sea’ (‘Meer’) and ‘more’ (‘mehr’), which are homophones, as well the word for ‘knowledge’ (‘Wissen’). The title perfectly captures the project’s aim: to know more about the ocean. MeerWissen aims at improving the conditions for knowledge- and science-based policy-making for the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean in selected African countries by: (1) strengthening the capabilities of African partners in marine research and building knowledge through African-German partnership projects; (2) stimulating dialogue and the transfer of knowledge between marine researchers and policy-makers; (3) fostering digital solutions, innovation and the use of new technologies.
