Today's Edition
Abu Dhabi (ALETIHAD)
The Swim for Clean Seas environmental initiative is launching a new School Ambassadorship programme, designed to teach a selection of nominated students about the importance of keeping our seas clean and healthy – and passing their new-found knowledge onto their friends, family and everyone around them.
The initiative is launching the new programme together with the Yas SeaWorld Research & Rescue Centre, the largest integrated research, rescue, rehabilitation, and return facility in the MENA region and main event sponsor, Abu Dhabi-based boutique real estate company, Rex Real Estate.
Launched in 2018 by siblings Felicia and Almer Agmyren, both open-water swimmers, Swim for Clean Seas aims to raise awareness about ocean pollution by engaging the community in fun, interactive activities and encouraging them to take a swim in the gorgeous blue waters surrounding Abu Dhabi.
Felicia Agmyren, co-founder of Swim for Clean Seas and managing partner of Rex Real Estate, said: “We are inviting all schools to nominate two or three students between the ages of 10-14 to become our first cohort of Swim for Clean Seas School Ambassadors. The programme is a chance for young people to gain better knowledge of the need to protect our oceans, the problems associated with plastic in our oceans, and what each and every one of us can do to stop the ever-rising tide of ocean pollution. We believe if the young ones come home with knowledge taught in school to the family households, it will help drive and implement sustainable and collective change faster and positively impact the community as a whole.”
Emphasising the need for collaboration in promoting conservation, Dr. Elise Marquis, Director of the Yas SeaWorld Research & Rescue Center, says: “Partnering with Swim for Clean Seas on this initiative that blends enjoyment with education provides an ideal platform to raise awareness about the importance of taking care of our ocean. We are very excited to engage the youth of Abu Dhabi in a creative journey to investigate the impacts of plastic consumption. By engaging the next generation, we aim to foster a greater sense of environmental consciousness.”
The first wave of the programme – titled “Plastic Asking” – is a new experiential way to learn about plastics and the journey these items take around the world’s seas.
The experience comprises three workshops where participants will develop their knowledge of plastic pollution, in addition to a grand reveal of students’ creative solutions.
The first workshop will take place February 16, and involves a field trip to the waterfront, including a beach clean-up.
The next workshop, set to occur February 23, will investigate the journey, process, and reasons behind the creation of selected plastics, as well as discussions about the science involved and human behaviour.
The third workshop, to be held March 1, involves developing a creative outcome – such as a song, sculpture, poem, or maths demonstration of the carbon emissions of the selected plastic.
This will help the ambassadors frame their knowledge creatively, highlighting the human behaviours that lead to the use of plastic and its journey to polluting our oceans.
The student’s creative work will be presented at the annual Abu Dhabi Swim for Clean Seas event on April 20, which includes talks from leading local and international environmentalists, alongside the fun and inclusive swimming event.
