Well, this was unexpected!
A couple of months ago I applied for the MakeEUBlue awards, on behalf of our Jeanne team. Normally when I apply for these types of things, my brain automatically excludes any thoughts of their existence after pressing the “submit” button, since it is more likely than not that the submission will amount to nothing. So imagine my surprise when three weeks ago, I received an email saying, “We are very pleased to inform you that your initiative/project, ‘Jeanne, the marine restoration workshop e-bike’ has been selected as 1st prize winner of the 2024 MakeEUBlue Awards. Congratulations!” – well now, that was unexpected, but also WEEEE!
These awards, organized by the EU4Oceans Coalition and supported by the European Commission, aim to raise awareness about the importance of the ocean and encourage ocean literacy initiatives in Europe with long-term impact. That’s exactly what we hope Jeanne can do in Austria. You can read more about Jeanne here.
As the communications officer of RESTORESEAS, and one of the many people involved in the creation of Jeanne, I had the honour of receiving the award on behalf of our team at the award ceremony on May 23rd at the European Maritime Day (EMD) in Cork, Ireland. I was excited not only for the award, but for visiting Ireland for the first time. Cork and Kinsale are lovely by the way. I definitely recommend the visit!
When I arrived at the venue, I met with the lovely EU4Oceans team responsible for the awards and the representatives of the other winning projects. These included a project that aims at empowering disadvantaged youth groups to engage with ocean issues through art, an initiative that brings the ocean into schools through a network of Green schools and a project that raises awareness on marine environmental issues in Cypriot schools through artistic expression. What really stood out to me from discussing with my fellow winners, is how art and self-expression have become such an important centre piece in engaging youth and building connections between people and what hides beneath the waves. As someone who believes that ocean issues must be tackled holistically, via people with different skills and backgrounds, I think this is great!
The award ceremony took place during the event’s closing session. I’m not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous as they called us up one by one to receive our awards. I had to say a few words, less than a minute really, but as the representative of our project, it felt like a lot of pressure. Luckily, it all went smoothly in the end. I managed to get a few coherent sentences out before stepping off the stage.
By talking to people there, I realized there’s a growing movement to bring ocean issues into schools and policy, even in places where these topics are often overlooked, like Austria. After all, that’s one of the main reasons Jeanne won- her work helps foster a connection to the ocean among kids in a landlocked country, many of whom have never even seen the sea. This growing awareness of the importance of getting everyone on board to tackle ocean challenges genuinely makes me happy!
Thank you EU4Oceans for this great initiative and of course the entire Jeanne team for their great work, especially Pedro Frade (the head behind Jeanne), Helena Silberhumer (our first Jeanne guide), the science communication team at the Natural History Museum in Vienna, and Inseq Design and ARS Electronica for their input and for building Jeanne.
You can read more about the award and the winning projects here.
Written by Maria Pinto, NHMW