Sustainability
How does the Marine Education Center work for a sustainable world?
Sustainability
For decades, we humans have taken our existence on earth for granted. We have lived and continue to live as if there were unlimited resources on the planet. We have used the earth as a garbage dump, cut down forests, and fished out the oceans with no thought of a sustainable future for future generations. Today we see the results and consequences of this way of using resources, which affects animals, plants and us humans. We must change our relationship with nature.
The ocean, which is currently threatened by overfishing, littering, pollution, acidification and eutrophication, is not doing well. Without a healthy sea, animals, plants and people living on land cannot survive. Did you know, for example, that more than 70% of the oxygen on the planet comes from the ocean? We have to understand the ocean's influence on us and how we influence the ocean, that's what we call becoming Ocean-aware. We must all act together and work for a sustainable future on our planet. Although we humans have caused the problems that exist on our planet, we are also part of the solution.
Together, we humans can make an effort to reduce climate impact, a good start is to take a closer look at the UN's global sustainability goals Agenda 2030 - 17 global goals that will change the world.
The global goals and our sustainability work permeate our entire business and it is very important to us that we always do our utmost.
Ocean Literacy
With our educational programs and the activities in our open operations, we want to increase the participant's awareness of the sea and thus create commitment. If you have an emotional bond with something, the chance that you want to cherish it increases. We want everyone to love the ocean just like we do and therefore help take care of it.
What then is ocean awareness? Ocean awareness (Ocean literacy in English) is a bit like it sounds - being aware of the ocean and why it is important. Seven basic principles underlie Ocean Literacy or Ocean Awareness:
1. One Ocean - One Planet, on our planet, there is an ocean with many different characteristics
2. The ocean and marine life have a direct impact on life on land
3. The sea regulates the weather and climate
4. The sea makes the earth habitable
5. The sea promotes great biological diversity and many different ecosystems
6. Man and the sea are eternally linked
7. Most of the ocean is still undiscovered, there is much left for us to learn
Increased ocean awareness in society is crucial for the survival of the planet and the ocean. Knowing the human importance of a healthy sea hopefully makes more healthy and sustainable decisions. All people regardless of gender, cross-gender identity, ethnic affiliation, religion or other belief, functional variation, sexual orientation or age have the right to become ocean aware. Therefore, our business is for everyone.
The Global Goals
At Marine Education Center we work daily with the Global Goals. In 2015, the UN released the Global Goals for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2030. Through Agenda 2030, world leaders have committed to 17 global goals to achieve four great things by 2030:
- To abolish extreme poverty
- To reduce inequalities
- Solving the climate crisis
- To promote peace and justice
With its 17 goals and 169 targets, Agenda 2030 is the most ambitious agreement for sustainable development that world leaders have ever adopted. The Global Goals are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, the social and the environmental.
The Global Goals unite the countries of the world through a universal agenda and require that all countries - both rich and poor - act both nationally and globally so that the goals are achieved by the year 2030. It is not the UN that is responsible for the implementation of the goals, but the respective countries. In Sweden, all ministers in the government have a responsibility for implementation, but the agenda requires that business, academia, civil society and private individuals also get involved. For us to succeed, everyone must contribute - including you!
We have integrated the Global Goals into all our educational programs. Among other things, we address how one can get involved at a local level to bring about a global change, through various questions:
- What are the five most important goals for you?
- Why have you chosen the five goals in particular?
- Are some of the goals connected and are they all equally important?
- What can you do to bring about a change and be involved in creating a more sustainable society?
The idea is to start an internal conversation with the students about what they think is important and how they want our world to look. We want the new generation to feel hope for the future and to want to make good and sustainable choices. The goals are ambitious and may seem very difficult to achieve, but it is absolutely possible. We are the first generation to end poverty, and the last to stop climate change.
If you want to learn more about the Global Goals, you can read here.
