The impact of climate change & human activities on ocean ecosystems : More than 1.000 european pupils express their voices at the European Commission
The impact of climate change and human activities on oceans ecosystems is one major challenge for the future of the planet.
This scientific, economic and social issue, is the “raison d’être” of the EUR-OCEANS Network of Excellence.
These issues have received significant attention in the popular media, sometimes being dramatised or even wrongly interpreted.
If the youngest generations are more and more sensitive to this topic, how are they affected by this kind of information?
How do they see the future of oceans ecosystems and of the planet?
EUR-OCEANS is trying to answers those questions, by giving free reign to the imagination and creativity of more than 1000 pupils of European schools to produce short films on the subject.
Scientists and young generations facing climate change
EUR-OCEANS has set up a complete education program for European schools allowing the teachers and pupils to have access to high quality scientific information.
Willing to go further in the communication between both scientific and schools communities concerned by climate change and oceans ecosystems, EUR-OCEANS has organised an ambitious European schools film contest.
European film contest : Think, act and communicate
The main objective of this film competition was to show, especially to the scientific community, how this issue is perceived by children from different European countries but also to encourage pupils to think about the issues and raise awareness through action.
The scripts had to reflect the school’s children point of view and their capacity to objectively use scientific information to create a fictional or documentary style film.
8 countries
More than 1000 pupils from 53 classes of all levels (primary and secondary) over 8 countries have participated to the national selections of the contest: Spain, Italy, Greece, Poland, France, United-Kingdom, The Netherlands, Sweden.
Aged from 6 to 18 years old, the children had to imagine, write and develop a scenario then build a script for a 4 to 6 minutes film relating to “Climate change and human activities impact on oceans ecosystems”.
The scripts have been evaluated by EUR-OCEANS juries including specialists in the science, education and media world following criteria such as originality of the scenario, writing quality, content and scientific accuracy.
Humour and science-fiction to communicate real and common fears
In participating countries, children are very concerned, and worked very hard. It has been a difficult process for the EUR-OCEANS juries to select one script among all the good ones received.
Science-fiction and humour are the preferred styles to express the messages – which are deliberately alarmists. Children, future citizens of the planet, are more than ever conscious of communicating to the general public the importance of scientific research, exchange between communities.
The European Final of the Contest to be held at the European Commission in Brussels
After this first step, 8 schools have won the chance to produce their films with the help of EUR-OCEANS teams and are invited to the European Commission in Brussels (Belgium) on June 5th 2008, during the “Green Week” to present and defend their films schools and countries at the European final of the contest.