SEAtwins Cluster: Integrating Socio-Ecological Aspects into Digital Ocean Twins

Launched in 2025, SEAtwins exemplifies a mission-oriented approach to ocean research and innovation. It is not a single project, but a cluster of four Horizon Europe projects working in concert: SEADOTs, SEADITO, SURIMI, and EcoTwin. The cluster’s formation and endorsement by the UN Ocean Decade’s DITTO Programme gives it a global platform and a unifying framework. This means SEAtwins can use the Ocean Decade branding and participate in its Communities of Practice, connecting with a worldwide network of experts and stakeholders.

SEAtwins is about integrating socio-ecological and socio-economic aspects into digital ocean models. Traditional digital twins of the ocean mainly simulate physical and biological processes. SEAtwins expands this by incorporating human dimensions, from economic impacts to community behaviour, into those models. This integration is crucial for tackling real-world challenges like climate change, sustainable fisheries, and marine spatial planning, where human activities and ocean health are deeply intertwined. By uniting ecological data with social science insights, SEAtwins aims to create holistic decision-support tools that can guide policymakers and communities toward more sustainable marine policies. In other words, the cluster ensures that people are part of the equation in cutting-edge ocean digital twins.

Goals and Thematic Areas of Collaboration

The SEAtwins cluster has clear objectives that span multiple themes in ocean science, technology, and policy. Its goal is to enhance ocean governance with data-driven tools that are transparent, inclusive, and actionable. To achieve this, the cluster coordinates work across several thematic areas:

Data Management and Standards – Ensuring that data follow the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and, where relevant, the TRUST and CARE principles. This allows information to be shared and reused effectively across projects.

Socio-Ecological Modelling – Developing next-generation models that link ecological dynamics with social and economic factors, ensuring interoperability with larger digital twin frameworks.

Policy and Governance Interface – Translating model outputs into policy-relevant insights. The cluster supports “what-if” scenario tools to show how management decisions may affect both ecosystems and communities.

Communication and Outreach – Promoting ocean literacy through accessible visuals, interactive platforms, and outreach materials so that non-experts can understand and use digital twin tools.

Data Visualisation and Interaction – Creating dashboards, maps, and simulators that make complex model data easy to explore for scientists, policymakers, and local planners.

Project Coordination and Shared Outcomes – Aligning project workplans and identifying joint deliverables to ensure that breakthroughs are shared across all partners.

To make this work, SEAtwins has established cross-project working groups for policy, communications, data management, modelling, and more. These groups ensure that a new method or tool developed in one project can quickly be shared and adopted by the others.

Shared Tools and Resources

To support collaboration, SEAtwins partners share several resources:

• Cross-Project Glossary - A living document that harmonises terminology across disciplines.
• Common Workspace (SharePoint) - A shared hub for files, plans, and deliverables, hosted on the Horizon Europe Mission-2023-OCEAN-01-08 SIBLINGS platform.
• Joint Activity Tracker - A shared tracker of meetings, milestones, contacts, and communications to ensure transparency and coordination.

These tools make SEAtwins a cohesive community rather than a loose collection of projects.

The cluster is actively working with international partners and planning events that showcase its progress.

A significant upcoming milestone is the ICES 2026 Workshop in Copenhagen, tentatively scheduled for 21-22 October 2026 at Aalborg University. The event, titled “Advancing Digital Twins of the Ocean: Integrating Socio-Ecological Data, Models, and Applications for Sustainable Marine Management and Policy”, will bring together scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders from across the world. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) will co-promote the event and engage its working groups in the discussion.

SEAtwins is also collaborating with the EuroMarine network through foresight workshops and with the Ocean Decade’s Communities of Practice, ensuring that its findings feed into global conversations about sustainable ocean futures.

Why Socio-Ecological Integration Matters

Ocean challenges like overfishing, pollution, and climate change can’t be solved by ecological data alone. Decisions depend on understanding how environmental changes interact with human behaviour, economics, and policy. Socio-ecological integration brings those dimensions together.

For example, a traditional model might predict ecological gains from a new marine protected area, while a socio-ecological digital twin can show how that change affects local fishing livelihoods and community support. This makes digital twins more realistic, equitable, and useful for policymakers.

Integrating human data also improves transparency and trust. When communities see their concerns reflected in models, they are more likely to engage with scientific recommendations. It brings scientists, economists, social scientists, and technologists into genuine collaboration; exactly the kind of interdisciplinary effort the Ocean Decade envisions.