World Ocean Radio - Advocacy
This week we continue the Earth Optimism Series, a 24-episode project in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution's Ocean Portal, to celebrate ocean solutions and innovative projects in the context of the Earth Optimism Summit, April 2017. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we discuss the history of the recycling movement and the modern day efforts of local groups such as ecomaine, a waste-to-energy and single-sort recycling facility in Southern Maine. And we offer suggestions for what we can do as consumers and citizens to mitigate waste from the trash cycle, and to keep plastics out of landfills and the ocean.
With this edition of World Ocean Radio we embark on an informal partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s Ocean Portal to address ocean solutions and innovative projects in the context of the Global Earth Optimism Summit to be held Earth Day Weekend in April 2017. The Smithsonian will convene thought leaders, scientists, philanthropists, the media and more to discuss and share solutions. In this episode we introduce the ideas behind the Earth Optimism Summit and the subsequent series of radio broadcasts profiling exemplary people and projects, new visions, new ideas, inventions, and new behaviors that are transforming our relationship with the natural world.
In September the World Ocean Observatory was invited to attend the Our Ocean Conference hosted by the U.S. State Department in Washington D.C. During the 2-day gathering more than 4 million square km (1.5 million sq. miles) of ocean were newly pledged to protection and sustainability, and more than 1 billion dollars were pledged to ocean protection, research, and the blue economy. In this episode of World Ocean Radio we offer a report of the various pledges, commitments, and advancements made during Our Ocean 2016.
The world is connected, not divided, by the sea, through the circulation of protein, goods, people, and ideas. The ocean contains an enormous unexplored inventory of medicinal cures, unlimited energy, and desalinated drinking water. How do we build a new global constituency for the ocean? In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill will explore this idea and ask how we might connect and unite as citizens of the ocean worldwide, and to sustainably benefit from the ocean's bounty.
On June 8th we celebrate World Ocean Day, a day to recognize our relationship with the ocean through global connection and stewardship. In this episode of World Ocean Radio host Peter Neill will discuss what World Ocean Day is meant to do and will ask, "What does it take for the will of the people to coalesce around a single issue, to be informed and changed into a voice for change?"
The US Navy's SEALAB initiative is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, with now three pioneering aquatic living experiments under their belts to help understand how humans can best survive in underwater conditions. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill salutes the work of SEALAB, outlining their enormous contributions to the development of tools such as breathing devices and medical protections, as well as their contributions to the further understanding of the physical and psychological demands of surviving in an underwater habitat.
Oysters have had a history of ebb and flow, plenty and scarcity, and in New York Harbor there was a time when the waters were so polluted that oyster populations diminished and interest in consumption vanished. Enter the Harbor School, an innovative high school on Governor’s Island on the East River in New York City. They have launched a project to revive the defunct oyster populations through an ambitious goal of restoring no less than one billion oysters to the harbor. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill will discuss the school’s history and their restorative ecosystem service activities and their effort to reconnect the harbor to the 30 million people living within its vast urban watershed.
A recent series of investigative stories entitled "The Outlaw Ocean" by Ian Urbina of the New York Times exposes the dark side of the deep sea, describing real abuses, crime and violence in international waters. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill summarizes the four-part “Outlaw Ocean” series, praising Urbina’s work to educate the public by exposing the labor, human rights, and environmental abuses occurring out of sight, on the high seas.
Who has a right to life? Only one species? Do humans have the right to exterminate any species they wish? In an effort to combat climate change and the exploitation of the planet’s resources, Bolivia is becoming the first country on Earth to give comprehensive legal rights to Mother Nature. In 2010 the National Congress of Bolivia voted to support an act to protect the well-being of its citizens by protecting the natural world, its resources, sustainability, and value as essential to the common good. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill explores the language contained in the legislation and asserts that Bolivia may be inventing a social model that will show how we as a global community might transcend conflict and division toward a harmonious and sustainable future.
On September 21st, 2014, nearly 400,000 people gathered to march through the streets of New York City to express growing concern over the impacts of climate change. World Ocean Observatory's Peter Neill was there, and in this episode of World Ocean Radio he shares the exhilaration and exuberance of the march and discusses the UN Climate Summit and General Assembly which took place in the days following the People's Climate March.
Mailboxes fill each day with messages from advocacy organizations with petitions promoting a variety of important causes and ideas. Certain campaigns are hugely successful thanks to the power of social media and the speed with which information travels around the globe. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill will discuss the evolution of the petition concept and outline some of the most successful international campaigns that have and are making a global difference for climate and the ocean.
"Citizen Science" is a relatively new term used to describe non-specialist research carried out by pioneering teams of private individuals, foundations and organizations utilizing the power of the internet to collaborate around the globe. In this episode of World Ocean Radio, host Peter Neill will outline a number of innovative projects and a way in which anyone can collect data and conduct research using sophisticated yet affordable submersible equipment. He'll suggest that the ever-increasing interest in robotics amongst students young and old offers real potential for future ocean science.
