How will you ‘Love the Ocean’? Take one action for your ocean this Valentine’s Day!

Show your commitment to your ocean (and your health); this Valentine’s Day, the Sea Change team are asking everyone to pledge one action to #LovetheOcean and to encourage others to do the same by sharing your love for the ocean across social media.

It’s easy to say we love the ocean, but for many of us, our everyday actions tell a different story. Seas of plastic, declining fish stocks and ocean acidification are just some examples of the damage caused to the ocean by our everyday activities, which can also have a profound effect on our health and wellbeing. Our relationship with the ocean has become toxic and one-sided. After all, the ocean loves us in many real ways: providing much of the oxygen we breathe, regulating our climate, and supplying us with food, medicines and a variety of recreational opportunities.

The ‘Love the Ocean’ campaign aims to rebalance our relationship with the ocean and show our appreciation by committing to take real action each day, sharing our pledges and actions online, and tagging them with #LovetheOcean. We are asking the public to post a photo or short video showing what change they will make to their daily lives. No change is too great or too small – pledge to take the bus to work, or simply to stop using disposable plastic drinking straws. Every positive action makes a difference to the health of our ocean!

‘Love the Ocean’ coincides with the final conference of the EU Horizon 2020 funded Sea Change project on 15 February 2018 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, concluding three years of empowering and educating citizens to take action for our ocean. The conference will focus on the project’s achievements and plan for the coming years, maintaining the momentum of Ocean Literacy by linking with initiatives worldwide for the upcoming Decade of Ocean Science (2021 – 2030).

Jon Parr, coordinator of the Sea Change project, is looking forward to the conference: “Sea Change has sought to make a difference, to make a Sea Change, in our attitude in Europe, to our seas and ocean. We are gathering in Paris to celebrate what has been achieved and share our love for the ocean. We also want to look to the future, continuing that sea-change. A lot has happened since Sea Change began and I am confident that the recognition of the importance of our everyday lives on the ocean is growing and growing. We can all make positive changes and show our Love for the Ocean through #LovetheOcean”.

The Sea Change project has sought to foster positive behaviour change by improving the ‘Ocean Literacy’ of citizens, whereby greater understanding will empower individuals to change their behaviour, creating an overall ‘sea-change’ in how society views its relationship with the ocean. This will lead to healthy seas, healthy communities and ultimately - a healthy planet.

We are promoting our ‘Love the Ocean’ campaign via Thunderclap now. To add your voice, see www.thunderclap.it/projects/67330-love-the-ocean. Join other Sea Changers today, and make your pledge using the #LovetheOcean hashtag across Facebook (www.facebook.com/SeaChangeProjectEU) Twitter (@SeaChange_EU), and Instagram (sea.change.eu). You can also use our Facebook cover photo to share your support for the ocean across social media.

Visit our campaign page and download our press pack at www.lovetheocean.eu!

If you’re seeking further inspiration on how you can make your sea-change, you can find lots of practical ideas in our video series on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/album/4588555 or on the Sea Change project website: http://seachangeproject.eu/seachange-media-2/factsheet.

For press queries, please contact the project Communications Officer: Emer Cooney, AquaTT (email: [e-mail] Tel: [phone])

For more information on the Sea Change project, please visit: www.seachangeproject.eu


Notes for Editors
The Sea Change project is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement n° 652644. The project began in March 2015 and will run until February 2018. The Marine Biological Association, UK (MBA) is coordinating the project. Jon Parr, Sea Change coordinator, is Deputy Director at the MBA. AquaTT is the project dissemination partner.

Keywords

ocean, marine science, marine, ocean health, wellbeing, education, citizen, ocean literacy

Countries

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, United Kingdom