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2024 Free Youth Advocacy Training Programs for Ocean & Climate Action
Early in 2024, The Ocean Project will be running two of our annual super collaborative 4-week virtual “Advocacy Training” programs, designed for youth ages 16-23 (although any ages are…
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Turning Tides: a new resource to connect and support young changemakers
Turning Tides is a resource, created by Jasmine Rodman, World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council alumna, which provides resources and peer advice to young advocates.When Jasmine Rodman started her journey as an ocean advocate and artist, she admits that she didn’t know what she was getting into. Skills like networking, creating a website, building a social media presence, and simply balancing school, work and activism were all things she had to teach herself along the way. And reaching out for help seemed intimidating.“For a long time, I hesitated to share when I didn’t know something and felt that I needed to learn, afraid that it would limit my opportunities or make people think I was less capable of my job,” said Jasmine, a 19 year old from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.Over the years she spent as an environmental advocate, Jasmine was fortunate enough to connect with many other youth leaders worldwide through her work with Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs, The Ocean Project’s World Ocean Day, and the National Geographic Society. In talking with these other youth advocates, she discovered that she wasn’t alone in her initial lack of knowledge. Jasmine found that feeling burnt out, frustrated, and lost were not felt by her alone, but commonly experienced by most young activists she met.“What I knew most, and heard over and over from other youth, was that this work was isolating,” expressed Jasmine, “Every single person I talked to assumed that they were the only one feeling this way.”With the support of the National Geographic Society, Jasmine decided to create a project to help others starting out on the sometimes challenging path of youth advocacy. “This project is what I wished I had when I was starting out, and what I need now –- a resource to continually teach missing skills, to show the wide variety of ways we can all be advocates, and to let us know that everyone feels lost once in a while.”The result was Turning Tides, a comprehensive website created by youth, for youth which aims to make advocacy work easier and more transparent, one toolkit at a time. On the site are a range of free, accessible resources with concise and practical information on all the skills that are often expected of young people, though rarely taught. Within these webpages, there is advice from some of the world’s leading changemakers on everything from “Balancing Work and School” to “Using Art for Advocacy.” Turning Tides was created to walk young people through every step of their advocacy journey with resources to help them start their initiatives, develop skills, and sustain their efforts. “To all the young changemakers out there who are trying hard and doing their best: your contributions are both needed and wanted,” says Jasmine. “Hopefully, Turning Tides can help us help each other as we continue to make positive change in the world.”Access Turning Tides at www.turningtidespod.com About Jasmine Rodman: Jasmine Rodman, a National Geographic Young Explorer, is an artist, student, entrepreneur, and storyteller with a goal of making the world a little bit more beautiful, whether that be by helping youth environmental projects or by painting murals. She grew up exploring the gorgeous ocean, forests, and mountains around her home on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. At age 15, she started her own sustainable small business, Ocean Child Creative, using her art to start conversations about the ocean and raise funds for non-profits. She then joined Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Program’s Future Blue Youth Council, where she worked to create a brand- new granting program for young changemakers. As a National Geographic Young Explorer, she created the project Turning Tides, a multimedia exploration of youth advocacy. Turning Tides offers young people resources and advice, in order to encourage and empower them to start and continue this work in a way that aligns with their evolving life.
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Recent Polls by Azul and Green 2.0 Will Help Diversify the Movement for our Ocean and Climate
The Ocean Project is excited to share the comprehensive national research recently conducted by our partners at Azul and Green 2.0. The findings complement each other, build upon earlier…
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Semi-annual Newsletter – September 2022
One Ocean, One Climate, One Future – Together A semi-annual newsletter for partners and friends of The Ocean Project as we advance collaborative conservation for our blue planet Click…
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Getting Fishy with It
There certainly was something fishy about our First Friday Webinar for April. For this episode, entitled, “Getting Fishy with It,” we were joined by two speakers with information and…
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Protecting 30% of our blue planet by 2030
Efforts by aquariums, zoos, museums and others to help ocean animals like this sea turtle just got a big boost with today’s announcement of a new national goal to…
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The Conservation Calendar in 2021
In our first webinar of the new year we were honored to have not one, but two special guests covering the shifts in the political ‘seascape
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A Global Perspective on Effective Ocean Messaging
In our latest First Friday Webinar, we had the pleasure of welcoming Sophie Hulme, a cofounder of Communications Inc and one of the essential organizers of the
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New Members of World Oceans Day Youth Advisory Council Announced
We are excited to introduce thirteen new members to the World Oceans Day Youth Advisory Council! Adam Zhou, Philippines Ariana Wanvig–Dot, Switzerland Arya Yurdacan, Turkey Belinda Tian-Wing Ng, Hong Kong Ee Jenn Lee, Malaysia Estefanía Aphang, Perú Jose Marie Eslopor, Philippines Lela DeVine, USA Mhairi McCann, Scotland Muskan Lamba, India Paul Eweola Ayomide, Nigeria Ruth Edma Mwizeere, Uganda Siobhan O’Connor, New Zealand Congratulations to these inspiring young leaders who represent diverse countries and backgrounds! Each will provide unique perspectives and ideas to help World Oceans Day grow in exciting ways. They will join the existing 12 members of the Council in informing and motivating their local communities and countries to take action through a variety of projects and inspire youth and others around the world. By working together, the Council will achieve real impact, in June and throughout the year, to protect and restore our blue planet. Thank you to all the hundreds of young people from over 40 countries who applied to join the Council! It was incredibly challenging to select the winners. We also want to extend special thanks the following members of the Selection Committee who helped select the winners this year: Angel Jasmin Akpak Senior Director of Herbal Essences and Responsible Beauty P&G Beauty, Switzerland Aldrin Aujero National Geographic Young Explorer Co-founder of Earthsavers Former World Oceans Day Youth Advisory Council member, Philippines Mia DeMazza Executive Director EarthEcho International, United States Olivia P. Livingstone Founder and Executive Director-Green Stewards Incorporated Former World Oceans Day Youth Advisory Council member, Liberia Presha Soogrim Manager, Informal Education South African Association for Marine Biological Research, South Africa Alan Yang Marketing Director iLab France Holding Sarl, China Eugénia Rocha Marine Biologist Portuguese-language Representative, Sustainable Ocean Alliance Former World Oceans Day Youth Advisory Council member, Portugal You can see the new Council here
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New Report: Looking Back while Planning Ahead
Hot off the press: Looking Back while Planning Ahead – A summary of efforts and opportunities to engage the public and advance conservation As we enter a time of…
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