Turning URN Guidance into Practice

As the maritime community prepares to mark World Maritime Day on 24 September under this year’s theme, “From Policy to Practice: Powering Maritime Excellence”, the GEF-UNDP-IMO GloNoise Partnership is demonstrating how voluntary international guidance can be supported through practical tools, capacity building and shared experience.

A key milestone for the Partnership was the completion of the IMO Underwater Radiated Noise Toolkit, developed to support stakeholders in understanding, assessing and addressing underwater radiated noise (URN) from shipping. The Toolkit brings together structured learning materials, practical methodologies and assessment tools, including RAINDROP Lite and RAINDROP, providing users with resources to build knowledge and practical experience with URN assessment.

With the Toolkit finalized, the GloNoise Partnership moved directly into its practical application. National workshops were held across the six Lead Pilot Countries: Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, India, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago. Nearly 200 participants from government, maritime administrations, academia, research institutions, industry and other stakeholder groups took part.

The workshops provided an opportunity for participants to work directly with the Toolkit and explore how its resources could be applied within their own national contexts. Through practical exercises and discussions, participants examined approaches to assessing underwater noise, identifying potential hotspots and considering possible mitigation measures. The workshops also generated experience and lessons that can support continued national action on URN.

Building on this national experience, the GloNoise Partnership brought the Toolkit and lessons from the pilot countries to the wider global community through two online launch workshops held in June. Participants from governments, maritime administrations, ports, academia, industry, international organisations and environmental stakeholders joined the English and Spanish sessions. The workshops demonstrated the Toolkit and its resources, while providing an opportunity to share experiences and perspectives on applying the IMO Revised URN Guidelines.

• English session: https://youtu.be/_WV1e9qYV6I

• Spanish session: https://youtu.be/cDb_6F3R7mE

The IMO Revised Guidelines for the Reduction of Underwater Radiated Noise from Shipping provide an internationally agreed framework, but their voluntary nature means that effective uptake depends on knowledge, capacity and practical experience. The GloNoise Partnership is helping to build these foundations by providing tools, creating opportunities to use them, and sharing the resulting experience with the wider maritime community.

The journey from policy to practice is about enabling stakeholders to understand it, test approaches in real contexts, learn from experience and share that knowledge so others can benefit.

Through the URN Toolkit and the capacity development activities supporting its use, GloNoise is contributing to a growing global community of practice on URN. By connecting international guidance with practical application and global knowledge exchange, the Partnership is helping countries and stakeholders take concrete steps towards quieter shipping and a healthier marine environment.

Check out the toolkit here.