Grants Archives - Page 2 of 3 - World Ocean Project

ISG+ New Project: NC Aquariums prepare a green power(ful) experiment

Posted by Bill Mott on February 20, 2014

This guest post by Windy Arey-Kent of NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores is the first in a 3-part series on their Innovative Solutions Grants+ project, aimed at testing different approaches to engaging guests for conservation action at aquariums. The North Carolina Aquariums are excited to be working with The Ocean Project on their Innovative Solutions Grant projects in 2014. There are four NC Aquarium sites that are each participating; the Aquarium at Fort Fisher, Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, Aquarium at Roanoke Island and Jennette’s Pier at Nags Head. Each of the sites, working in cooperation with Greenlight Energy, will be focusing our efforts to promote and market clean energy in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to our visitors during the peak visitation months of May – September, 2014. The three Aquarium facilities will be testing separate interpretive messages and approaches to see which approach is most effective in motivating our visitors to engage in a specific conservation ‘ask’, and to take personal action by purchasing REC’s for their homes. In turn, each site will receive a 1:1 match from Greenlight; for each REC purchased at a site, that facility will receive a REC to move each of us towards a goal of 100% green power. The pier site, offering a very different facility and path for visitors, will offer this opportunity for visitors through a stand-alone kiosk. There will be similarities at each site in our content, our ‘ask’, and the types of information given to visitors regarding the program and green power, in general. The approach at each site however, is the variable that we will be testing. At Fort Fisher, educators will be utilizing the NNOCCI model (National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation) of interpretation where emphasis is placed on framing and engaging audiences in a positive way to overcome barriers and think productively about solutions to climate change and ocean acidification. At Roanoke Island, a single conservation educator will be versed in promoting REC’s to visitors one-on-one, and will be able to engage in in-depth conversations about green power, REC’s, and the environmental consequences to living in a carbon-reliant society. A third model at Pine Knoll Shores, will take a community-based social marketing approach that utilizes the principles of conservation psychology to stress the benefits of purchasing REC’s for the Aquarium and its’ animals. The pier site, a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified facility with wind turbines and green power showcased on-site, will offer a kiosk where visitors are inspired to action, not through interpretation, but as a result of their visit to the site itself. To evaluate the effectiveness of each approach and method, we will utilize technology provided by Greenlight Energy that offers visitors an on-site ‘dashboard’ for sign-ups through tablets, cell phones or laptops. In addition, there will be a “text to” option for visitors onsite to gain more information on the program or directly sign up to purchase REC’s for their own homes. We will test each approach by measuring: the numbers of inquiries for additional information (texts sent or hits to each individual ‘landing page) how many visitors purchase REC’s visitor satisfaction in the program, using ipad surveys and visitor intercepts at each site. We will then compare the three approaches at the Aquariums to the kiosk at the pier, which relies on the visual inspiration and behavior modeling to inspire action. Progress and results will be disseminated widely amongst our colleagues in the aquarium, zoo and museum communities, both by way of this blog and using sites such as climate interpreter, as well as, we hope, at the AZA annual meeting. Send along a note if you want to know more. We welcome your feedback! - Windy Arey-Kent, Education Curator at North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores

Blog Posts, Innovative Solutions Grants+

The Ocean Project Innovative Solutions grant winners announced!

Posted by Bill Mott on December 11, 2013

With thanks to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) over the last several years, The Ocean Project has been helping our partner zoos, aquariums, and museums (ZAMs) advance conservation action. Most recently, NOAA Education has funded the first year of a three-year project that will allow The Ocean Project to invest in supporting innovators in the community (the grant this year stipulated that Innovative Solutions grants only be given to AZA-accredited aquariums; our hope in the future is that this grants program will become open to our other institutional partners - e.g. zoos and museums). The plan is for this Grants+ Program to build on what we learned from our small grants program over the last few years and provide our partners with the resources and strategic communications services to do more for ocean and climate conservation and will empower them to succeed in their role as trusted messengers for conservation solutions. We’re referring to this program as the Grants+ Program because it involves much more than just financial resources. With each grant, The Ocean Project provides financial resources for our partner aquariums to develop innovative local and regional ocean conservation solutions and stewardship initiatives, specifically targeting youth and minorities. We plan to maximize the benefit of each grant by including strategic communications capacity building opportunities for the awardees, including strategic and technical resources and expertise to more effectively engage their visitors. We will also work with each grantee to help accelerate peer-to-peer learning and widely share resulting new strategies and successes with the wider community, especially our growing partner network of 2,000 ZAMs and other conservation and education organizations in all 50 states and worldwide. Additionally, we’re also seeking to leverage this funding to expand the program and happy to work on joint fundraising opportunities with interested partners, including awardees to expand on their innovative projects and/or runner-ups for awards. Thank you to all who applied for a grant from The Ocean Project’s Innovative Solutions Grants+ Program. For this first round of the Innovative Solutions Grants+ Program, we had a very competitive pool of applicants from the aquarium community. Our Advisory Panel had a challenging time deciding on the award winners. We are pleased to announce the following grant recipients: New England Aquarium: Awarded $17,500 for "New England Aquarium ClimaTEENS Community-wide Solutions." The ClimaTEENS project will help 40 teens provide climate change workshops and presentations for peers focusing on community-wide solutions. The teens will complete in-depth training and develop materials with help from staff experts in climate science and interpretation. North Carolina Aquarium Society: Awarded $16,000 for "Promoting Renewable Energy Certificates at the NC Aquariums." Their three aquariums and an educational pier facility will develop, deliver, and evaluate new and effective conservation messages that will encourage their visitors to take immediate conservation action by purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs) for their homes. In turn, for each REC purchased by a visitor, the respective site will receive a REC matched by Greenlight Energy. Each site will take an individual approach to messaging and delivery so that they can evaluate the methods and messages that are most effective based on how many visitors sign up at each location. Oregon Coast Aquarium: Awarded $20,000 for “Empowering Youth to Inspire Social Change: An Ocean Acidification Social Marketing Campaign.” Their youth volunteers will create and implement a pilot social marketing campaign targeting youth. The campaign will raise awareness in communities being impacted by ocean acidification; identify and then ask youth to adopt a new behavior to minimize ocean acidification; and provide incentives to encourage and measure the adoption of the identified behavior. The Ocean Project looks forward to working with all our partners in 2014 and beyond, to help our partner ZAMs communicate strategically for conservation action, outcomes, and impact. Also, we will be releasing another RFP at some point in 2014 so watch the blog and our website for further information.

Blog Posts, Diversity

New Grant Program+ Launched

Posted by Bill Mott on October 2, 2013

As part of The Ocean Project's efforts to help our partner zoos, aquariums, museums (ZAMs) develop into the most effective centers for conservation leadership and advance conservation action, we are pleased to announce a new grants program for our partners. With thanks to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who has funded the first of a three-year project that will allow The Ocean Project to invest in supporting innovators in the aquarium community, yesterday we launched our "Innovative Solutions Grants Program." This program will provide financial resources for our partner aquariums to develop innovative local and regional ocean conservation solutions and stewardship initiatives, specifically targeting youth and minorities. Click here for the RFP. Applications are due November 15th, 2013. We're referring to it as a grants program+ because it will involve much more than just financial resources. The Ocean Project plans to maximize the benefit of the grants by including strategic and technical resources and expertise for awardees to more effectively engage their visitors, including strategic communications capacity building opportunities. We will help accelerate peer-to-peer learning and widely sharing the resulting new strategies and successes with our growing partner network of 2,000 ZAMs and other conservation and education organizations in all 50 states and worldwide. Furthermore, we're also seeking to leverage this funding to expand the program and will work on joint fundraising opportunities with interested partners. America's ZAMs are community anchors. Ongoing research conducted by The Ocean Project and others shows that ZAMs are among the most trusted sources of conservation information and that the public increasingly looks to these institutions for guidance on what they can do to help protect and conserve our environment. Indeed, ZAMs and their professional staffs – the primary audience for all our activities – are "gatekeepers" to the American public. With millions of visitors, ZAMs play an essential role in educating and engaging audiences. We hope that this grants program+ will provide our partner ZAMs with the resources and strategic communications services to do more for ocean and climate conservation and will empower them to succeed in their role as trusted messengers for conservation solutions.

Aquariums, Diversity