More information
Description
The identified problem has 2 dimensions: a) environmental: the disconnection of youngsters with nature and lack of care; b) social: the demotivation towards school and disbelief about the future. To solve the problem, we create the Atlantis Program: an innovative underwater ecological education program for youngsters, which promotes ocean literacy and personal and socioemotional development, through educational experiences in the ocean, in the school and in the community. The AP it’s different and innovative by acting in the prevention of the problem and implementing a plural methodology, focused on the experiential learning and on the underwater education.
Benefits:
Increasing awareness about the benefits of being in nature;
Greater ecological awareness;
Greater connection to the ocean;
More active in society as agents of change;
More confident and autonomous.
Beneficiaries:
20 youngsters, with 13-14 years - participate in all program activities (see the Powerpoint attached), being selected by the school. They’re from a fishing village (Sesimbra) but, despite their connection to the sea, have no deep knowledge of it. After the empowerment, they’ll become “Ocean Guardians” - multiplier agents of the AP.
2) 470 students - benefit from the implementation of the collective project (Oasis Game) in school.
Partners and donors will contribute and will be associated to a high impact program of Ocean Liteacy.
Activities/deliverables:
Freediving Sessions (students)
Collective project development (students)
Ocean Talks (open to community)
EcoAction – beach cleanup(open to community)
Algae Workshop (open to community)
Audiovisual production
Communication performance report
Event sustainability report/consulting
Summary of project results
Programa Atlantis-PA emerges as a response to the lack of relation between communities and ocean and the need to act urgently on ocean protection to mitigate loss of biodiversity and natural resources. On other hand, the general public has a lack of information about the ocean''s important role on biodiversity maintenance, carbon sink or oxygen production. The focus of PA is on the idea that one needs to know to be able to connect and therefore protect. This is more critical in coastal areas where the range of opportunities to explore and learn by and with the ocean are many.
Therefore, PA focuses the work in the Blue Schools framework and community. PA is an underwater ecological education program that promote Ocean Literacy from the combination of free diving with ecological education and human development. Through this method, PA intended to awaken and root the environmental responsibility and discover new personal skills, either in the students or in the communities where they live and in the relationships that lay in the environment around.
The program took place between March-August 2021 and involved an 8th grade class from the local school - Sesimbra. During a school year several different enriching and awareness activities combining scientific, sporting, educational and human development knowledge were activated: Free Diving, approaching young people to the ocean and inspiring them to take action on a more sustainable lifestyle. Collective Dream, Mentoring for a class project within the scope of ocean protection and self-development; Study visits to sea prairies with Ocean Alive, raising awareness on the importance and beauty of this habit; Ocean Talks, free public event where informal lived experiences by experts in different areas related to the sea were shared with the public; EcoAção, beach and seabed cleaning action with the local community. Outputs: PA website and social networks channels were created. Photo album, and one video production on PA; a live street exhibition; 2 reports on Impact Assessment Studies were created: a Social and an Environmental one. Also, a Workshop on Body and Alga and an Ocean Kit to inspire the students.
The main results were the high awareness among students and the very high-quality media outputs that reached impact over initial goals: 22 students on 48 hours; 40 partners, including 150 experts; +12 areas of expertise: Marine Biology, Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, Management, Photography,
Video, Graphic Design, Communication, Free Diving, Environmental Education, Food and Sport; 50 media channels and 80 social networks reached; 1 Pilot School: 22 students and 8 teachers involved; 378 people impacted by awareness-raising content; 6690 (and+) followers of the project''s social networks; 2 Assessment studies: social and environmental impact; Screening PA film in Indie Juvenil Festival; 1 worker integrated at Oceans and Flow.