Life began in the oceans. They cover most of the Earth's surface and are the largest ecosystem on the planet. They provide us with food, oxygen, energy, and, moreover, billions of people depend on the physical, chemical, and biological functioning of this vast environmental system to live. Additionally, oceans regulate the climate and are a key factor in mitigating climate change. However, their health is in danger, and therefore, so is that of all living beings. For this reason, it is essential to raise awareness about the richness and importance of marine ecosystems, the challenges they face, and the challenges we also face as members of a global citizenship, what we can do to improve and preserve them through our personal decisions.

With the aim of making this problem visible and raising awareness among the public, the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA CSIC-UIB) launches the "Ocean Odyssey Challenge", a contest of small ideas to achieve great transformations through the new generations. This initiative is part of the European project Ocean Night, which brings together 5 marine centers of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Maria de Maeztu Program, and has the collaboration of SeaTeach.

"Ocean Odyssey Challenge" is aimed at Primary and Secondary Education students from educational centers in the Balearic Islands, who want to jointly develop an idea, action, or innovative project to raise awareness about the importance of the oceans. The aim of the contest is to inspire creativity in the exploration, management, and interaction of young people with marine environments.

With this initiative, it also aims to showcase the scientific work carried out at IMEDEA and CSIC marine centers in general, while encouraging students to think critically about ocean conservation, marine life, and sustainable practices.

The winning groups will have the opportunity to implement a project or idea that they have not been able to carry out due to economic limitations. The students and teachers involved will also be invited to IMEDEA to tour the facilities and research laboratories, where the award ceremony will also take place.

The "Ocean Odyssey Challenge" aims to be an exciting competition that not only promotes a sense of environmental responsibility but also showcases the creativity and passion of young people in promoting ocean culture. To participate, the group must submit a single application through a representative teacher within their category.

Categories:

• Primary Education
• Secondary Education

Only one proposal per educational institution and category may be submitted.

The proposals must be creative and innovative, reflecting how to develop a project that results in an activity or service that helps raise awareness about the importance of the ocean. This should include ideation, design, planning, execution, and evaluation, as well as a Gantt chart (or timeline) and a detailed budget of what would be required for its implementation. Additionally, proposals must be related to one or more of the 8 themes that make up the Ocean Night project (learn more about them here):

Themes:

• An Ocean of Science.
• Ocean and Climate.
• An Ocean of Life.
• An Ocean of Food.
• An Ocean of Health.
• Ocean and Society.
• An Ocean of Challenge.
• Caring for the Ocean from Home.

The jury, composed of technical and scientific personnel from IMEDEA and other marine science centers of CSIC, will primarily assess creativity, educational value of the proposal, and its overall impact on society. Innovation and project replicability will be considered, as well as the incorporation of sustainability and environmental responsibility elements. Involvement of both students and the community in general will also be highly valued.

There will be one winning proposal per category, and both will be announced on April 20, 2024. The prize will consist of implementing the winning ideas or projects, with up to a maximum of €2,000 allocated for their realization. Additionally, the winning groups will have the opportunity to visit IMEDEA, touring its facilities and research laboratories guided by scientific and technical staff.

CALENDAR:

• February 16, 2024: Publication of the call.
• April 12, 2024: Deadline for project submission. Projects can be submitted at the following link until 11:59 PM.
• April 23, 2024: Notification of results: The proposals with the highest scores in each category will be selected. All centers will be notified, both those selected and those not selected.
• April 30, 2024: Visit to IMEDEA and Awards Ceremony. Winning schools will be invited to IMEDEA for a visit to the center and an awards ceremony. We expect the winning proposals to be implemented between May 1 and June 24.

Results

We received a total of 11 proposals, from which we selected 2 ex-aequo in the "Primary Schools" section, one winner in the "Secondary Schools" section, and a Special Mention for a third project from a local primary:

Primary Schools

"Save the Posidonia," by 6th-grade students from CEIP Pere Cerdà (Port de Sóller), is based on creating a pedagogical tool inspired by traditional board games. The creators propose to bring Posidonia oceanica closer to other educational centers through entertainment, inviting reflection on why it is important to research and understand this marine plant, its threats, and proposed actions for its preservation. Depending on their communication and collaboration skills, the gaming community either wins or loses as a whole, thus promoting teamwork and cooperation to achieve a single goal: saving the posidonia.

"Messages from the Sea," by 3rd-grade students from CEIP Ses Rotes Velles (Santa Ponça), highlights the erosion and deterioration of the marine landscape and ecosystem services in their locality over the past years. To address this, they advocate for an awareness campaign through street-level communication tools. Thus, students will thoroughly investigate various issues through interviews with experts, fieldwork, talks, and dialogues, and then convey their findings in the form of messages distributed throughout their municipality, aiming to capture the attention of the public.

Secondary Schools

The prize in this category went to the project "MarINe SIDE," by 2nd and 3rd-grade students from IES Port d’Alcúdia, which reinforces their commitment to environmental conservation and the application of the scientific method to achieve it. Their main objective is clear: to analyze the different sounds present during different times and seasons on the beaches in their environment, and to understand and document their potential impacts on human health and marine ecosystems. To do this, they will install professional equipment to collect sounds at strategic points along the coast.

Special Mention
"Let's Recover the Sea Shanties!", from the primary students of CEIP s'Alzinar (Capdepera), received a special mention for their commitment to maritime culture and the promotion of traditions through science and the arts. We encourage this group to continue working on this project!

The students from the three winning classes visited IMEDEA on April 29. We organised a tour of the institute through a series of "poster stations" where different scientists from IMEDEA discussed various aspects of ocean science with the pupils. We then gathered in the seminar room of the institute; the pupils of each class presented their project and were awarded the prize.