Ocean Heroes Boot Camp This Weekend
May 31st, 2018New Harmony is excited to announce two events happening this weekend in New Orleans organized by a coalition including: Lonely Whale, Captain Planet Foundation, The 5Gyres Institute, UN Environment, OceanWise, and Litterati. Check it out their descriptions of the events:
Ocean Heroes Boot Camp – This event is FREE for young people (ages 11-18) to participate from Saturday June 2 – Monday June 4.
Ocean Heroes Boot Camp is an experiential training program targeting youth aged 11 – 18, will connect passionate ocean heroes with experts and peer youth activists who will share the scientific knowledge, campaign development tools, coaching, inspiration and support needed to tackle single-use plastics within their communities.
The in-person Summit will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana from June 2-4, 2018, where 2018 UN Environment World Environment Day activities are to be held on June 5th. Kicking off with the designation of actor and environmental activist Aidan Gallagher as a UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador for North America (and the youngest ambassador to be designated by UN Environment), students will be engaged in understanding the localized impacts of plastic pollution up and down the mighty Mississippi River.
Concurrently, students from all over the world will participate in skill building and content learning as delivered through a virtually connected network of Coastal Ecosystems Learning Centers. The CELC network enables us to create connections between youth no matter where they live while keeping travel requirements to a bare minimum. Following on the Algalita model, we’ll pair students with each other so that they can support, encourage and learn from each other across geographic boundaries and time zones.
This program offers young people the opportunity to work together creating significant collective impact and momentum to tackle a single-use plastic item of choice.
You can sign up by filling out this application!
World Environment Day – This event is also free, and will take place on June 5 following the Boot Camp. The program for the day includes a speaker’s event in the morning (10a – 12p) and a clean-up event in the early afternoon (12:30p – 2:30p), all of which is family friendly. A light breakfast and full lunch, and all clean-up materials, will be provided. Each participant will also receive a pair of nice garden / cleanups gloves to take home! This event will both engage city and business leaders in pledges to “beat plastic pollution” (this year’s theme) and to engage the community in conversations about waste within the city is connected to pollution in the seas and oceans. It’ll be very interactive and high-energy – with music provided by the Zulu Band and a second line from place to place – and will feature great work being done by local leaders.