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RAISING AWARENESS AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE | 99

IN
FIGURES

■ 32 ocean leaders,
■ 25 countries.

STRENGTHENING THE ROLE
OF COMMUNITIES

Inclusion and communication are at the heart of the
second panel's question, that of giving communities
more means to take action for the ocean. What's the
most important tool to use? "Citizen science", Lucy
Babey, Deputy Director and Head of Science and
Conservation at ORCA, replies with conviction, "is
about creating a group of passionate, trained people
that you can send anywhere in the world and who
can create this huge dataset, it's a cost-effective tool
that delivers results." The head of the British organi-
sation working to protect whales and dolphins cites
the example of a marine protected area in the North
Sea in the UK, more than 90% of whose designation
is based on data generated by citizen science.

Then Stephen Kankam, co-founder and deputy di- PROFILE
rector of Hen Mpoano in Ghana argues that "one of
the tools for empowering communities is to involve Launched in 2020 by the University of Edinburgh and
women more and more in fisheries decision-ma- supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation,
king, in particular by mobilising women's voices in Ocean Leaders is the only leadership programme designed
illegal fishing and empowering them to use tech- specifically for young professionals working on the oceans.
nology-based approaches." Finally, Kenyan Peter It combines leadership, mentoring, international field
Manyara, Head of the Regional Coastal and Ocean experience and network support.
Resilience Programme at the IUCN Office for Eastern
and Southern Africa, stresses the essential role of
informing local communities about the ocean issues
that affect them.
IN
Throughout their discussions, these charismatic
ocean leaders explore and compare their points of SIGHT
view, highlighting the main challenges they face in
their actions. “To lead change, you need not only passion, skills, and
creativity, but also courage, the will to do something
In the final part of the event, the Ocean Leaders took different, and perhaps to fail. So, it's very important to
on the role of facilitators, leading various panel dis- create these supportive spaces and communities”.
cussions on leadership and the obstacles encounte-
red by all the participants. The dialogue was fuelled Sandy Tudhope, professor, co-founder and co-director
by the questions and concerns of young people who of the Ocean Leaders programme
were as determined as they were concerned about
the future of the ocean.