Building a community of youth empowered to connect, create, and communicate for our blue planet.
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142 Countries
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44,774 Students
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$783,850
The 2026 Ocean Awareness Contest is Now Open!
The 2026 Ocean Awareness Contest – Your Story, Our Ocean – encourages you to explore the many ways our ocean sustains, protects, and inspires us. We invite you to think about your personal connection to the ocean – whether you’re coastal or landlocked – through the value it brings to your life. The benefits of the ocean are widespread and multifaceted, from food production to climate regulation to artistic inspiration. Go through the sub-themes and explore the topics that resonate with you. Share how the ocean has shaped your story through art, writing, performance, film, or multimedia. How does the ocean sustain, protect, and inspire you?
Resource Studio
Visit our Resource Studio, a space for creative exploration and a jumping-off point for deep inquiry of climate change, ocean conservation, and using art and creativity as tools in environmental movements!
Visit Resource StudioContest Gallery
Our student gallery showcases visual art, poetry and spoken word, prose, music, dance, short films, and multimedia projects from past Ocean Awareness Contest winners. Read, watch, admire, and share!
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Designer Genes: Genetic Engineering on a Changing Planet
October 17, 2025
By Nethanya Fonseka, 2025 Future Blue Youth Council member Cover photo: Baroque Biology (Paper Theatre) by Jennifer Willet (2019), petri...
The Monarch Metamorphosis: Lend a Hand, Save a Wing
September 10, 2025
By Cynthia Zhang, 2025 Future Blue Youth Council member & 2024 True Blue Fellow Cover Photo by Prof. André Green,...
Introducing Bow Seat Alumni Advisor – Keren-happuch Garba!
September 3, 2025
By Keren-happuch Garba, Bow Seat Alumni Advisor When I was 13, I experienced water scarcity. The wells in my home...
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Sahasra Kalakonda
Age 15, Johannesburg, South Africa
“The Contest has given me the opportunity to express my dream of defeating the adverse effects of climate change. With the help of my community, I will continue to raise awareness through my art.”