Wave Makers

Wave Makers is a youth exchange connecting 21 young people from Denmark and Belgium, addressing ocean health through arts and activism. During the project, we engaged with the Danish Limfjords biodiversity crisis by developing ocean literacy and promoting responsible and creative actions to heal and protect the ocean.

The aim was to develop ocean literacy by understanding ecological interconnectedness, foster a sense of togetherness with the sea to combat ecoanxiety, establish relations across country borders and disciplines, and undertake concrete actions through art and hands-on contributions to the ocean. During the exchange, we offered a place for young people to gather and learn from each other as well as from workshops in arts education, participatory work, ocean literacy, storytelling, and sensorial exploration. The project gave ground to ask questions about how we can help the world and how we can deal with nature in decline, being one small human. It is about thinking beyond yourself and your own perspective to try and do some good to our environment and the many species that make up a biodiverse world. The participants found power in the way the group was with each other and with the things that surrounded us, gaining more belief in the role of a cultural shift (where we hold more ecological-oriented values and behaviours) to tackle both the climate crisis and climate anxiety.

21 young people (10 from Denmark, 11 from Belgium) within the age range of 18-30years attended the exchange.The participants were young people with an artistic or scientific background – all interested in gaining insight on how to become responsible and sustainable European citizens, who feel connected to their surrounding waters and natural environments, all the while using their creative and/or advocacy skills.The group or participants had a very diverse level of creative skills and (scientific) ocean knowledge. What they had in common is that they were curious to learn and to collaborate with people who do not share the same professional background.

The participants were guided by a group of facilitators with expertise in arts education (Marieke Breyne, Bob Lundgreen from Nyskaben and Elvira Crois from VUB) and ocean literacy (Zunaira Malik and Dominika Wojcieszek from EMSEA).

Through Wave Makers, the partner organisations with expertise in participatory arts (Nyskaben), youth work (UMMK), ocean education (EMSEA), and research in arts education (VUB) engaged in cross-disciplinary knowledge exchange and therefore gained insights into the potential and challenges of bringing very various fields (ocean health, youth engagement, arts education, and climate activism) together. Coming each with their expertise and inviting young participants with diverse backgrounds, it was clear that the partners needed to rethink their educational and facilitation strategies.

For example, following questions emerged: How do you share a particular part of knowledge with a target group that has a very diverse expertise level? How do you create an experience that targets not the transfer of a particular element of information but triggers the collaboration between people with very diverse backgrounds? How can artists and ocean educators work together and how can we stimulate a group of young people to explore this collaboration? The Wave Makers project also strengthened relations between the young participants and organisations, which results in future meetings/collaborations. Some concrete examples: EMSEA has a funded program for young ocean advocates to attend a conference on ocean health and they plan to invite some of the Wave Makers participants. Nyskaben is a partner in a youth project on the rights of nature and plans now to invite some of the creative participants to join in. Further, Wave Makers also broadened the networks of the involved partners, e.g. through Wave Makers a collaboration between EMSEA and Dansk Skaldyrcentre emerged. BEYOND. The impact of this project also reaches beyond the involved youngsters and organisations. Within Wave Makers, multiple prototypes of creative output were developed. Some of these will be developed further by participants individually or within a more collaborative set-up. These works are expected to culturally impact communities, inspiring a deeper connection with natural surroundings and serving as a catalyst for environmental conversations. Several materials will also be disseminated through the communication channels of the organisations and beyond, e.g. a digital zine, a video of the exchange, a short animation video created by the participants, and two short articles written by participants.