Ocean Wise is a globally focused conservation organization that works to identify three major challenges: overfishing, ocean pollution and climate change and understands that youth are at the front of these issues and need support to help bring their solutions to life. YouthToSea offers a space for them to create a community to address this issues and empower them to use their collective voice.
YouthToSea looks at empowering and educating today’s youth by uniting them with one common goal: to protect and conserve our oceans and our environment. The YouthToSea program provides youth with opportunities to develop their problem-solving, communication, and critical-thinking skills. With a mix of our monthly hands-on learning journeys, workshops, and our service project creation component, youth are given once in a life-time opportunities to gain experience in ocean conservation and are given tools and skills to become active global citizens in their local and global communities. In practice youth in the program receive monthly career exploration excursions, employment skill workshops and 1-on-1 mentorships meetings.
Today’s youth are facing anxieties that other generations have never dealt with. YouthToSea provides hands-on experience, mentorship, and skill building to benefit not only themselves but our overall global communities.
It started as a group of 4 students and in 2019 grew to 100 students in the Vancouver area. In 2021 we had another 80 students enter the program. We hope to continue with a new cohort in 2022 and eventually hope to spread across Canada.
Follow @YouthToSea on Instagram for updates about youth-led events and initiatives.
For more information about collaborations or how to create a chapter in your area, email us at youth@ocean.org for details.