Highlights from the project OP4CR - Ocean Prediction for Costa Rica

In 2025, the Ocean Prediction for Costa Rica (OP4CR) project achieved significant milestones with the successful completion of its first phase. A key achievement was the development and launch of a marine monitoring dashboard, co-designed with technical experts from the Coco Marine Conservation Area (ACMC) and partner organizations. This platform integrates multiple ocean data sources into a user-friendly interface available in Spanish and is already supporting the monitoring and management of marine protected areas. The launch of this tool was complemented by hands-on training sessions for technical and operational staff, ensuring these digital ocean tools are effectively used in day-to-day monitoring and decision-making activities.

To increase the project’s international footprint and foster cross-border collaboration, OP4CR showcased the dashboard and its initial results at high-profile global ocean events.

Earlier in the year, OP4CR increased its outreach by showcasing the dashboard and project results at the Third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in June 2025, including live demonstrations at both the EU Digital Ocean Pavilion and the Costa Rica Pavilion. This engagement helped spotlight Costa Rica’s innovation in ocean data use on the world stage and fostered connections with UN member states, NGOs, and scientific institutions committed to ocean sustainability.

Later in the year, from 25 to 26 September 2025, the project lead Valentina Giunta attended the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance (AAORIA) Forum in Brussels, Belgium, a major gathering of ocean scientists, policymakers, and innovation leaders from across the Atlantic to share the work of OP4CR. The AAORIA Forum is a flagship event focused on enhancing scientific cooperation, innovation, and ocean diplomacy to address pressing ocean challenges and chart joint research priorities. It brings together stakeholders to discuss ocean observation, marine data systems, coastal resilience, and sustainable blue-green transitions where all these thematic areas are closely aligned with OP4CR’s mission. Attendance at this event reinforced OP4CR’s role within OceanPrediction DCC in transnational data sharing and elevated Costa Rica’s network within global ocean science diplomacy efforts.

Towards the end of 2025, between 20 and 24 October 2025 OP4CR was represented at the 1er Fórum Azul sobre un Mar Caribe Sostenible (First Blue Forum on a Sustainable Caribbean Sea), held in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. This regional forum convened experts, policymakers, port authorities, scientists, and other stakeholders to focus on sustainable management and governance of the Caribbean Sea which has direct relevance to Costa Rica’s coastal and marine environments. The event explored themes such as marine spatial planning, sustainable port operations, blue economy development, and resilience to climate change with an emphasis on translating scientific knowledge into actionable policy and regional cooperation. 

Participation in Caribe Azul underscored the importance of linking OP4CR’s tools and insights to Caribbean initiatives and broader Latin American commitments to marine sustainability. By engaging in this strategic dialogue, the presence of OP4CR brought valuable perspectives on regional priorities, helping to inform future work on transboundary marine observation and integrated ocean prediction systems.

Building on the momentum of 2025, the OP4CR project has laid the groundwork for Phase 2, set to unfold in 2026 through a series of thematic workshops. These workshops will bring together Costa Rican government authorities, scientists, NGOs, and international experts to co-produce recommendations that will strengthen national capacities for ocean monitoring and prediction, enhance linkages with regional and global ocean science networks and support evidence-based policy formulation for marine resource management.

These upcoming activities aim to leverage lessons learned from global engagements like UNOC, AAORIA, and Caribe Azul, deepening OP4CR ’s as well as the overall OceanPrediction DCC ’s contribution to collaborative ocean forecasting, data sharing, and sustainable blue economy initiatives.