MARINE CONSERVATION AWARESNESS & OUTREACH

PROFESSINAL PRACTICE WITH SCIAENA

Welcome to my professional practice website. You can scroll down this page to explore the main elements of my experience working with Sciaena on marine conservation awareness and outreach. If you are curious to find out more about the events I worked on with Sciaena, check out the dedicated pages on this website: Scianema goes online and ARW + Mar Motto

ABOUT SCIAENA

Sciaena is Portuguese Environmental Non-Governmental Organization with legal personality, created in 2006 by former marine science students of the University of Algarve. They take a multidisciplinary approach to marine conservation, working on different areas such as fisheries, marine protected areas, pollution, international maritime transport and raising awareness to promote protection of our oceans and their resources. Sciaena was created in response to the lack of communication between scientists and the general public which has been preventing and impeding the coherent and sustainable management of marine ecosystems. In efforts to bridge the gap between science and society, outreach and communication have always been at the heart of their work.

VISION

''A healthy marine environment and an informed population engaged in its conservation''.

MISSION

''Promote the improvement of the marine environment by encouraging the sustainability of fisheries and other forms of use and minimizing the impacts of pollution through knowledge, education, communication and political intervention.''

www. sciaena.org

PROJECT

HOW TO PROMOTE OCEAN CONSERVATION AWARENESS IN TIMES OF SOCIAL DISTANCING?

The main goal of this professional practice was to help Sciaena with their mission to disseminate scientific knowledge, educate, and communicate about conservation issues, even in times of social distancing. Due to the pandemic, two of Sciaena's festivals Mar Motto and Scianema could no longer take place, so the main objective of this project was to come up with online versions. I helped Sciaena restructure, adapt and organize two online festivals to engage the general public, spark conversations and inspire people during confinement. My responsibilities were to take part in all the steps in redesigning, planning and implementing these events. This generally included working closely within Sciaena’s working groups to set the aims and objectives, researching and learning how to use suitable online platforms, defining strategies and structure, selecting documentaries, contacting and inviting partners, advertising events, and assisting during the events.

The result of this work was the creation of two online festival, where we tapped into arts, music and film to educate people on issues impacting our oceans and to provide them with inspiration to drive positive change: Scianema goes online and ARW + Mar Motto.

THE FESTIVALS

ARW + MAR MOTTO

Online Art festival calling for the protection of our oceans.

SCIANEMA GOES ONLINE

Online environmental movie festival dedicated to the oceans

SKILLS AND COMPETENCES

Organisation

planning
meeting deadlines
setting priorities
adapting to changing strategies & priorities

Team-work

collaborating from distance
provide input
commitment to common goals
balance between input and creating too much extra work

Communication

adapt communication styles
Written communication
public speaking: co-moderating

REFLECTION

During this professional practice I was integrated in Sciaena’s team to work towards one of their most important missions: reach out, raise awareness and inspire the population to taking action to protect our oceans. To achieve this, I assisted Sciaena with organizing, planning and implementing two festivals Scianema goes online and ARW + Mar Motto, which due to the pandemic had to be completely restructured and conceptualized. bThe events had to be redesigned but having them online ultimately allowed to have a wider outreach. I assisted by increasing their network and ensuring the participation of new institutions, movie directors and artists. Especially by creating a really good relationship with Route, more opportunities to collaborate in the future seem very interesting for Sciaena. I also co-moderated and helped with the technical aspects behind setting up live events.

The discussions with our audience, speakers, artists and musicians, really demonstrated that our message of conservation came through and some people left the events feeling inspired to contribute towards a more sustainable future for our oceans.

Having learnt about some precise tools and strategies to address raising awareness is probably the most valuable aspect of this professional aspect. I had previously learnt about the importance but now I have seen practical examples and especially the impact such events can have on people. This has really inspired me to continue working towards disseminating scientific knowledge with creative tools in combination with scientific research.

Report abuse