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8 June, World Oceans Day

It is our pleasure to invite you to participate in the Mundus maris Awards contest for celebrating World Oceans Day 2017, on 8 June.

We invite original and creative written and audiovisual artistic pieces about the ocean. Stories and films are welcome from all over the world.

Extended Deadline: Saturday, 6 May 2017.

 Challenge: Tell a story inspired by this year's motto "Our Ocean, Our Future"

  • Check out the inspirational text below - we hope it helps your creativity to grow wings!

  • Tell a story, with a beginning, a main narrative and an end (don't just send in a picture or some facts)!

An international jury will appreciate your creative efforts - we wish you success!

Format (maximum size):

Text: PDF or Word format. (maximum 1000 words with or without images, maximum three DIN A4 pages)

Video: please, publish it in youtube and provide the link (maximum 2 minutes)

Age: Three age groups are distinguished: up to 12 years, 13 to 18 years, 19 to 24 years.

Language: English, French, German, Italian or Spanish

Please submit your participation to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

How to participate?

Participants have to submit in the same e-mail the following data: given name and family name (spelled as in ID), age, nationality, postal address and contact e-mail.

Submissions can be individual or collective: specify the complete data of every participant of the team and mark team participation clearly.

For participants younger than 16 years, an adult has to authorise their participation (please provide the data of both).

Submissions have to be original and in harmony with World Ocean Day objectives. Any form of plagiarism will disqualify the work. Materials shared in the public domain can be used, but the source has to be adequately acknowledged.

An international jury will examine all entries for originality of idea and quality of execution. It will select the winners in each category (technique, age - altogether in six categories). The judgement of the jury is final.

The participation in the contest means the authorisation of Mundus maris and other sponsors to use and share the submitted works in the public domain with due recognition of the authors.

Deadline: Sunday, 30 April 2017, midnight Brussels time.

Awards:

The jury will award three prizes per category based on creativity and general quality of submissions:

  • Special Bluefin Tuna Prize - 300 Euro
  • Sea Lion Prize - 200 Euro 
  • Turtle Prize - 100 Euro.

The jury may also decide on additional prizes at its discretion to recognise other submissions.

  • Shark Prize - 50 Euro 
  • Samba and Kumba Encouragement Prize - 30 Euro.

The best entries may be published in an open-access e-book to inspire others to connect to the ocean, quality of content permitting.

Each participant will receive a personal “Honorary Diploma” by e-mail in recognition of the effort contributed to celebrating World Oceans Day 2017.


Inspirational text on the United Nations Motto for World Oceans Day 2017

Life probably began in the ocean, and it has always been a story of fits and starts. We know that rather small changes in climate and productivity in the past have led to far-reaching changes in the ocean environment, mass extinctions of flora and fauna.

This occurred e.g. after the rise of the Isthmus of Panama, which separated the Pacific and the Caribbean between four and three million years ago. It can happen again, this time as a result of what we do and in ways which will be different because our human impacts have no precedent in history. Especially as we humans have already inflicted serious damage since we sailed all seas, overfished and polluted with plastic, chemicals and noise and provoke warming and acidification through our emissions of climate gasses.

The United Nations General Assembly has solemnly adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 14 is to Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. Let us seize the opportunity of World Oceans Day to contribute our share towards implementing the objective.

This gives a special meaning to this year's World Oceans Day Theme: Our Oceans, Our Future.

 

Why do we celebrate World Oceans Day?

  • To remind everyone of the major part the Ocean has in everyday life. The ocean is the lung of our planet, providing much of the oxygen we breathe.

  • To inform the public on the impact of human actions on the Ocean, including overfishing, pollution and climate change.

  • To develop a worldwide movement of citizen towards protecting the Ocean from such ills.

  • To mobilise and unite the people in all parts of the world around activities for the sustainable management of the Ocean as a major source of food and medicines and a critical part of the biosphere.

  • To celebrate together the beauty, the wealth and the promise of the Ocean.

The Mundus maris Awards 2017 are in collaboration with:

Click on the logo to connect to the partner's website.

Eco Ethics Kenya

 

Centre de Recherche sur les Technologies Intermédiaires de Pêche (CREDETIP), Dakar, Senegal

 
 

 AQUARIUM PUBLIC DE BRUXELLES

Belgique - België - Belgium

OPENBAAR AQUARIUM BRUSSEL

 
     
     

Aquarium public de Bruxelles, Belgium

Associazione Ricerca, Educazione, Scienza, Rome, Italy

Bénévoles Océan (Volonteers for the Ocean), Cameroon

Centre de Recherche sur les Technologies Intermédiaires de Pêche (CREDETIP), Dakar, Senegal

Eco Ethics Kenya, Mombasa, Kenya

FishBase Information and Research Group (FIN), Los Baños, Philippines

Formica Blu, Rome, Italy

Latitud 0, Buenos Aires, Argentina

WorldFish Center, Malaysia / Egypt

World Oceans Day Project, USA

 

Special events with an award ceremony for World Oceans Day:

The winners will be announced on World Oceans Day in several celebratory events in different cities around the world. Watch the Mundus maris website and social media to learn more about the special events.