Recap of the Sustainable Ocean Student Team Borrel

The Sustainable Ocean Community looks back on a very successful Sustainable Ocean Borrel on September 25th! The Sustainable Ocean Student Team (Sanne, Robin and Luka) was very happy to see so many faces and is ready to start this new adventure with you! 

“The Sustainable Ocean Student Team is born as an initiative to bridge the gap between the Sustainable Ocean Community and students. We are looking for students who are not only interested in the ocean, but also want to become part of a new interdisciplinary community that aims to act for global ocean and sustainability issues.”

The borrel started with a short introduction of the community, ECOP Netherlands and other affiliated institutions. The students also got to know each other during a game of “Which statement fits you best”. After the presentation, all students formed groups to discuss future goals and activities of the Student Team. 

The brainstorm provided the community with a lot of insights: 

  • For the theme Education, students brought up the idea to educate primary and high school students about the ocean through excursions.
  • On the topic of Career/internships, students had interests in networking events for work opportunities and part-time jobs as well as a ‘How to start an ocean career’ guide/talk. 
  • With regard to Activities, interesting activities included ocean clean-up day and book club about ocean-related texts.
  • Lastly, for the theme Awareness Raising, ideas included art activism on campus and in the city as well as creating posters / writing a handbook with information about small things that people can do to make a difference. 

The program ended with pizza. Erik van Sebille presented a dinner lecture about the "Whose Ocean?" project, which inspired a lot of the students. Many students stayed afterwards to share their thoughts and positive experiences of the ocean with each other. It was great to see so many students gathered to protect our big blue!

Do you want to stay in touch with the UU Sustainable Ocean Student Team? Please scan the QR-code to enter the Whatsapp community, or use the following link. Interested in becoming involved with the team even more? Feel free to fill in the registration form below to become more active in the world of ocean sustainability! Good to know: there are three spots available on the board! The registration form will close on October 18th.