An Overview Of Our Solution
Our focus is on preventing plastic from entering the oceans. One part of our mission is to create awareness of issues related to plastics and environmental protection already among young people. Environmental education is an important part of marine protection. The aim of everwave is to teach children, young people and adults about sustainable action and to anchor the principles of sustainable development in education systems worldwide.
In doing so, we support an educational approach that aims to promote responsible stewardship of the environment and natural resources. This pedagogical approach includes environmental education for young and old, as well as pupils, students and citizens, from all educational sectors, as well as the illustration of alternatives to conventional plastic consumption.
- Population Impacted: 7,71 Mrd.
- Continent: Europe
Nombre
Apellidos
Tipo de Organización
Correo electrónico
Análisis de Contexto
"You only protect what you love, you only love what you know." - This quote from zoologist and Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz describes why we have been designing the environmental education kit over the past few months: We love the sea, so we protect the sea. With the EmergenSea Kit, we also want to motivate elementary and lower secondary school students for marine conservation.
And we don't do this by pointing the finger. Rather, we inspire enthusiasm for the beauty of nature and present alternatives - alternatives that encourage students to think for themselves, think laterally and think anew. In this way, we lay the foundation for the long-term preservation of our environment.
Describa la solución técnica que usted esperaba ser adoptada por su audiencia meta.
We have to prevent plastic from increasingly entering our environment. But it is equally important to use plastic in a fundamentally more economical and sustainable way, to avoid waste and to recycle. The more each and every one of us does and the more people we take with us, the cleaner our oceans will become.
The educational kit "EmergenSEA Kit" offers the possibility to work on the topics oceans, plastics and resource protection with school classes in an interdisciplinary way.
In close cooperation with educators, we have developed a concept that, through a simple module and building block system, makes it possible to design individually adapted lessons around the topics of marine protection and sustainability.
The special feature: Teachers can set their own priorities, adapt the material to their own needs, and break up the theory with many practical elements such as games and experiments.
Describa su intervención para cambiar el comportamiento de su audiencia meta relevante a su solución.
The material partly takes up curriculum content and supports teachers in implementing the required educational goals. In doing so, the students should develop the skills to motivate themselves and others to take a closer look at the topics of environmental protection and resource conservation and even to look beyond them. They gain more detailed insights into factual contexts, taking into account people's actions and the consequences of their actions. With these measures, young people are encouraged to take a long-term interest in environmental protection, to positively influence their own sustainable actions and their environment. Each individual student can become a small multiplier and infect others with the joy of environmental protection.
On the one hand the material consists of a guide for teachers with background information on the individual topics, lesson structure and solution sheets. On the other hand, there is the material for the students. This includes classic worksheets, but also many educational games and instructions for suitable experiments, so that they can experience and learn with all their senses. The material is practically oriented and illustrated with lovely drawings. The clever octopus "Tessa Tinte" takes the students on a journey of discovery. She comments, explains and meets other characters. Thus, the youngsters have a friend in the story who playfully explains the connections and thus a personal connection to the topic.
Palancas de cambio de comportamiento utilizadas
Describa la implementación de su estrategia y solución.
Sustainability starts in our heads. The sooner we learn environmental awareness, the sooner we put it into practice. We are committed to more education for all ages and share our ideas for more sustainability at home. Because each of us can make our contribution to a green future.
We want to rid the oceans of plastic - with technology, education and by raising awareness. We don't just want to get plastic out of the waters, we want to recycle it sustainably. And we want to ensure that no more plastic enters the environment.
Part of our mission is to create awareness of issues related to plastics and environmental protection already among young people. Environmental education is an important part of marine conservation. The aim of everwave is to teach children, young people and adults about sustainable action and to anchor the principles of sustainable development in education systems worldwide.
With our EmergenSEA Kit, we want to inspire young people for nature and marine conservation in the long term. They have a particularly strong influence on their friends, but also on their parents and grandparents. Every single learner can become a small multiplier and thus an important part of the wave that saves our seas.
Environmental protection begins with education!
Describa quién lidera la implementación de su solución.
The oceans without plastic waste - that is the vision of Marcella Hansch, founder and CEO of Pacific Garbage Screening, now everwave. Our aim is to realize the technology that Marcella Hansch developed in her master's thesis. We are researching technology to fish the plastic particles out of the water. This requires intensive basic research. To implement the necessary research, we founded a non-profit association at the end of 2016.
We have grown over the last few years. What was a bunch of student volunteers has now become a full-time core team that drives the various projects and manages the various campaigns.
We are a dedicated team of scientists, engineers, architects and ocean lovers, working partly full time and partly on a voluntary basis on this idea. For the realization of our goals we are looking for people and sponsors who are willing to go new ways to a clean environment together with us. We hope to be able to contribute to saving our oceans with a lot of commitment.
Incluya algunos de los actores clave con los que colaboró durante el desarrollo e implementación de su proyecto.
First, the crowdfunding campaign in 2019 gave us the opportunity to finally get started. After that, we formed an incredible number of partnerships, for example in the area of research, which we were often not allowed to communicate right away. We launched the area of environmental education, where we do a lot for schools. We were on the road an incredible amount. And of course, as the face of the project, Marcella Hansch gave many presentations to find partners and supporters.
We are talking more with politicians and are represented in the EU Parliament, for example. In addition, we are working on various cooperative ventures, for example with Berky, which already operates waste collection boats for waterways. Or with recyclers. And with universities such as RWTH Aachen: For example, we are working on bacteria that break down plastic and make the monomers recyclable. So there are a lot of projects going on in parallel, all with the same goal: Getting plastic out of our waters.
We have strategic partners and cooperation partners as well as supporters and friends. Our strategic partners include companies such as "Grohe" or "Berky", foundations such as "Straniak", but also the univerities "RWTH Aachen". Some chairs of the RWTH Aachen support us as cooperation partners, but also for example the "Rorary Club". Our supporters and freinds include for example "Babor", "Gambit", "Oris", "WolkenDieb", "Tuchwerk" and some more.
¿Quién adopto los comportamientos deseados y en qué grado? Por favor incluya evidencia recolectada demostrando el cambio
We are still at the very beginning with the distribution of our EmergenSEA Kits. In the middle of last year we started to offer the cases to schools and companies. So far, about 50 Elemantary school and 50 secondary level 1 kits have changed the owner. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, only a few of the environmental education kits could be tried out. The response is consistently positive and the students have a lot of fun.
The aim of the environmental education is to come to the schools next year and support the teachers with the teaching content. We want to go on a field trip in the nature with the students and collect garbage from waters with the help of our garbage collecting boat, called "Collectix". Later back in the classroom we will discuss the results. The EmergenSEA Kit can be used to teach students about sustainable action. In this way, the principles of sustainable development will be anchored in education sytems worlwide.
¿Qué impacto tuvo sobre los niveles de contaminación del agua? Por favor sea específico e incluya las metodologías usadas
We support an educational approach that aims to promote responsible stewardship of the environment and natural resources. This pedagogical approach includes environmental education for young and old, as well as pupils, students and citizens, from all educational sectors, as well as the illustration of alternatives to conventional plastic consumption.
We make our existential dependence, but also the inestimable value of the world's oceans, tangible and show ways of acting sustainably in everyday life. An important component is environmental education, because our young generations determine the future. Together with everwave you will raise your awareness for the problems of plastic pollution and for environmental protection. Get the wave rolling together with us.
¿Cuál ha sido el impacto de su solución en los desafíos de equidad?
With regard to plastic consumption, many say: I'm the only one who doesn't make a difference. That's not true. EVERYONE can make a difference. We as consumers have an enormous influence on industrial production. What is no longer sold, will eventually no longer be produced. And that's where each and every one of us has the power to make a difference. The changes can be compared to a snowball system. If one million consumers use a little less plastic every day, that has a higher effect on the amount of plastic in the environment than 10 people living 'zero waste'. It's important to be part of that million. Even though you might not manage to live more plastic-free one day, just do it again the next day. So you can change the world every day even in a small way, it doesn't always have to be a huge thing. One small step is enough.
¿Cuáles fueron algunos de los beneficios ambientales adicionales?
By changing our consumption and behaviors, plastic production can be greatly reduced. The less plastic is produced, the less waste ends up in our rivers and oceans. This is how we can stop the pollution of our oceans.
¿Cuáles fueron algunos de los beneficios de desarrollo sostenible?
The ideal vision of the future envisages, above all, a more respectful approach to nature. People treat our resources more respectfully. Disposable packaging is a thing of the past and we have been able to implement systems in which 100% of our waste is recycled and returned to the material cycle. New technologies are helping us travel, work and produce more sustainably. Consumption is no longer about quantity, but quality.
Sostenibilidad: Describa la sostenibilidad económica de su solución.
We are currently financed almost exclusively by private donations. We do have a lot of contact with politics and business, but it's mostly about content. There is currently no financial support from this area. We are also not the classic investor start-up, as we are a non-profit. we would like to see the world view change.
The pandemic has hit us hard, donations and donors are becoming very less. We have usually generated the outreach for our vision at lectures around the world, but the virus has made travel tremendously difficult. Major conferences, conventions, etc. are falling away. As "online speakers" we use the possibilities of digitalization, but the personal is missing.
Retorno de la Inversión: ¿Cuánto costó la implementación de estas actividades?
The learning content and experiments of the EmergenSEA Kits were developed by four people over a period of one year. The materials in the suitcases come from mostly local suppliers. This resulted in a cost price of one suitcase of ~650-710 $ . Measured by the reusability of the materials, as well as the learning effects and the change of consciousness through the newly learned knowledge, it is worthwhile to acquire such a case.
With our impulses, we manage to get young people excited about nature and marine conservation in the long term. They have a particularly strong influence on their friends, but also on their parents and grandparents. Every single learner can be an important part to save our oceans from pollution.
¿Como podríamos replicar esta solución de manera exitosa en otro lugar?
The EmergenSEA Kit is aimed at all interested multipliers in the field of education. Whether teachers, environmental educators or an extracurricular place of learning, everyone gets their money's worth - because: Our EmergenSEA Kit is available in two versions: for elementary school (3rd - 4th grade) and for lower secondary school (5th - 10th grade). Since all worksheets for the students are included in the case as copy templates, the EmergenSEA Kit can be used as often as desired.
By producing more and more EmergenSEA Kits and translating the learning materials into several languages, we can make our knowledge available to more and more schools around the world and spread our message.