-
Championing Environmental Justice: A Short Letter from Kevin J. Patel, Climate Justice Activist, Age 23
In today’s world, the fight for environmental justice is more critical than ever. As communities around the globe grapple with the devastating impacts of climate change, it’s essential to…
Continue reading -
Webinar for Youth: Riding the Wave of Climate Emotions
Click here to watch recording. Click here to watch recording.
Continue reading -
You Can Help Create a Strong Global Plastics Treaty
Our planet – our home – is overwhelmed with plastic pollution; it’s everywhere: from the highest mountains to the deepest ocean trenches, in our food, and in our bodies. Most…
Continue reading -
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…
Continue reading -
Volunteer or Intern with us!
This past year, four outstanding and dedicated interns worked with us to help support the thousands of event organizers across the globe in taking action for our one shared…
Continue reading -
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.
Continue reading -
Announcing the 2023-2024 World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council!
We are excited to introduce 25 new members from 21 countries to the 2023-2024 World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council! Congratulations to these inspiring young leaders who represent diverse countries and backgrounds! Each will provide unique perspectives and ideas to help World Ocean Day grow in exciting ways.They will work together 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 collaborating with one another and others, 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 70 countries who applied this year to join the Council! It was incredibly challenging to select the winners, and we want to extend special thanks the following individuals who helped in this process:The World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council Alumni Review Committee:Cade Terada, 2018-2019 Council Alum, United StatesJoe Wilkins, 2021-2022 Council Alum, WalesKal Glanznig, 2021-2022 Council Alum, AustraliaMaría Paz Vasquez, 2021-2022 Council Alum, PeruPaul Ayomide, 2021-2022 Council Alum, NigeriaPrashant Mohesh, 2021-2022 Council Alum, MauritiusSiobhan O’Connor, 2021-2022 Council Alum, New ZealandSruthi Gurudev, 2021-2022 Council Alum, United StatesThe Selection Committee:Allison Alexander, Vice President, Program Operations, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, United StatesFanny Ekholm, CSR Manager, Didriksons, SwedenJared Ben, Partnerships Lead, Canva, AustraliaDr. Rodolfo Werner, Science and Policy Advisor, Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy & Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, ArgentinaShirley Yan, SSI & Mares Country Manager, ChinaTamara Wainer, Founder & CEO, Voice 4 Oceans, United StatesYou can meet the new Youth Advisory Council here!For updates about the Council and our youth initiative, and events and opportunities for youth around the world, subscribe to the Rising Blue Network newsletter.
Continue reading -
Announcing the World Ocean Day 2024 Action Theme
We currently face one of the greatest threats ever to our blue planet and all its inhabitants: the climate crisis. It is all too clear that we need a…
Continue reading -
Ocean Justice: Protecting and Restoring Our Blue Planet for Future Generations
Update from 2024: See the U. S. Ocean Justice Strategy. published in December 2023. “Defining” Ocean Justice Ocean justice sits at the intersection of environmental protection, social equity, and human…
Continue reading -
