How This Year’s Ocean Awareness Contest Theme Emerged After a Long Walk

October 11, 2022

One of my favorite things at Bow Seat is deciding our new Ocean Awareness Contest theme each year. It is a challenging decision, as we want to have a meaningful impact when we ask students to research a theme and then make a creative piece about what they have learned. (Now in our 12th Contest year, we have about 30,000 creative pieces from teens around the globe. Check out our Gallery to see some of these extraordinary works–you will be amazed!)

In prior years, we have addressed issues like plastic pollution, oil spills, overfishing, species extinction, and, of course, climate change. Climate change is a critical one as it impacts our oceans in a multitude of ways: extreme weather events, ecosystem collapse, and rising sea levels, to name a few. Oceans play a critical role in regulating our climate and act as a buffer to protect us from global warming, so the health of our oceans is tied to human health, whether we live on the coast or hundreds of miles inland.

Current news outlets and social media platforms are overloaded with frightening climate change images and statistics. Devastating imagery of wildfires, hurricanes, heat waves, flooding and droughts are everywhere. Many people have already lost homes, livelihoods, and lives, and scientists are predicting continued dire climate consequences. There are grave threats ahead of us, and no quick solutions. Along with news of the health pandemic, racial injustices, economic inequities, and wars, the world can feel overwhelming, deeply sad, and scary.

In fact, a growing body of evidence reports how climate change is affecting young people and their mental health. Climate anxiety, climate doomism and eco-grief are on the rise as climate-related anxiety and depression among teens increases at an alarming rate.*

As an environmental educator and mother, I am concerned and have started to look for meaningful ways to support our young people. We know we have to provide safe and nurturing spaces for them and encourage them to take time for self-care and reflection. Exposing youth to the benefits of mindfulness, meditation, yoga, journaling, and other therapeutic practices to help promote positive mental health is critical. Creating caring communities, like our Future Blue Youth Council, to share and validate experiences and feelings is also important so that one feels understood, connected, and not alone. We know that taking actions like writing a poem or creating an art piece is empowering and instills a sense of agency and purpose in young people. It is significant and wonderful that participants report feeling more hopeful after creating their work for the Ocean Awareness Contest.

Feeling inspired and optimistic is critical in maintaining strong mental health; unfortunately, though, we are perpetually inundated with negative social media posts and news reports that can be depressive and harmful. So how can our students find and see more positive news stories, images, and narratives?

The answer hit me when I was out walking. I love being in nature, and I am convinced that I do my best thinking when I am outside simply putting one foot in front of the other. I am lucky in my work because I am exposed to people who are doing amazing things to help fight climate change. It is inspiring to hear what they are working on and how they are tackling different issues. Over the last decade, I have talked with hundreds of people–artists, scientists, farmers, engineers, educators, and policymakers–all of whom have a remarkable story and a commitment, passion, and dedication to solving climate-related problems. I am buoyed by their ambitions and accomplishments and feel incentivized to keep doing what I am doing here at Bow Seat.

It occurred to me that young people also would be inspired from hearing stories about everyday people around the world who are leading the way on climate action. Asking teens to find and research local or unsung climate heroes could be galvanizing and uplifting; they could benefit greatly from realizing that many people do care and are creating viable climate solutions. Understanding that there is a large and robust global community working to solve climate issues helps young people better imagine—and then take action—towards a more sustainable world.

Our 2023 Contest, Climate Heroes in Action, was born from this understanding, and we could not be more excited about launching our new theme this year!

In Solidarity,

 

 

 

 

*In a 2021 global survey of 10,000 people ages 16-25 published in The Lancet Planetary Health, 56% said that humanity was doomed, and 45% said climate anxiety affected their daily lives. Another report of climate anxiety among youth: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7068211.