Linking communities & science:
The Buddy-Programme
WHAT?
A long-term relationship between interested scientists and members of coastal communities.
WHO?
Marine scientists / MSc and PhD students
Interested people from communities along the English coast
HOW?
We are setting up a "Find-a-Buddy" platform to help identify buddies who share interests and passions, are concerned about certain local topics, have the same geographical focus...
STEP 1:
Find a buddy!
STEP 2:
Learn from each other!
STEP 3:
Set up your own local event to raise ocean literacy in your community with the help of The Plover Rovers and your buddy.
The aims of our buddy-programme are:
1. Give local people the opportunity to connect to marine science on a personal level.
2. Give marine scientists the opportunity to connect to coastal communities on a personal level.
3. Bridge the divide between science and society by establishing sustained communication.
4. Enable members of local communities to set up their own, community-led ocean literacy project for the Year of the Coast 2023.
Our Buddy-Programme supports one of the key aims of the UN Decade of Ocean Science:
to be transformative in terms of who is contributing to marine science and other marine-related activities. The UN Road Map talks about aiming for "generational, gender and geographic diversity". With the Buddy-Programme, we aim to enable people to connect to marine science whose background may initially make it more challenging for them to access academia in general and environmental sciences in particular.
If you are a member of the scientific community and want to get involved, please click here.