SOA Arequipa aims to promulgate science to the 4 cardinal points of the Arequipa region, promoting scientific thought to all the inhabitants of the region even if they are not linked directly to scientific fields. Our vision is to disseminate science through use of social networks, campaigns and expositions to both public and private centers so that the population becomes aware of all the impacts that pollution is causing in the Arequipa region. We want to provide people with multiple science-proven solutions to avoid the continuous pollution that occurs day to day.

SOA YPAC will conduct a community survey and policy brief about deep seabed mining as well as a roundtable discussion with high-level leaders to share their findings. They aim to use UNOC as a platform to share their findings, and will champion scientists, businesses, organizations, and communities who support the moratorium or practice a circular economy

3 youths from 3 islands in the Thousand Islands (Tidung, Pari, and Kelapa Dua) developed technical skills and soft skills as they underwent online classes on climate change and website development. The 9 participants also gained direct experience in the conservation field by planting at least 1,000 mangroves and 150 seagrass across the 3 islands.

Today, the Belarusian government considers actions that help achieve SDG14 to be irrelevant for the country, since Belarus has no access to the sea. However, young people disagree and do consider the challenge of protecting the ocean environment to be relevant for Belarus (MyWorld, 2020). As part of the Youth Initiative for Sustainable Development, we hold 5 informal lessons in 5 districts of the Minsk region (Belarus), which tell young people aged 14-20 about the problem of pollution of the world’s ocean. The final interactive event in Minsk is conducted in the Global Jam format, where young people come together and develop projects and solutions to the problems in Belarus pertaining to SDG 14.

SOA Manabi (Ecuador) Hub will plant and monitor 200 mangroves in the Punta San Clemente Marine Protected Area, working in partnership with the Contamos Contigo Ecuador Foundation to clean and re-establish adequate water flow to the estuary.

This project aims to: 1) curate selective marine organisms and illustrated graphics to debunk misconceptions of taxonomy through the art of epoxy resin, 2) prepare information for resin specimens and blocks via QR codes, with video links from experts related to themes of acidification, aquatic invasives, destruction of habitat and pollution, 3) create awareness through advertising and create an educational toolkit and exhibition. The project is expected to help youths engage the fundamental science of taxonomy with conservation and ecology in line with the themes of SOA and SDG 14, and aid experts by working towards establishing conservation priorities of our Malaysian marine biological heritage.

The city of Paraty, an important tourist spot in Brazil, has situations of high marine environment degradation, including overfishing, excessive trawling, bay pollution (lack of basic sanitation), marine environment destruction and overhunting of protected species in protected areas. This project seeks to educate community youth on the impacts of anthropogenic actions and also present sustainable solutions that can replace predatory activities and increase the fishing stock of the region through respect for protected areas.

This project is led by SOA Argentina and aims to generate more ocean awareness in the country since only a small portion of the population lives near the coast. They will develop 2 series of podcasts focused on Argentinian coastal wetland ecosystems as well as sharks, rays, and chimera species found in the Argentinian Sea. They will also partner with Proyecto Sub and Proyecto Arrecife to create a photographic record of cartilaginous fish species and marine coastal wetlands in the region. They will develop a website and stronger social media presence to share all this work with the community.

The annual "Sentinel Survey" seeks to understand effects of climate change on Atlantic cod and other species in the eastern Gulf of Maine to inform federal management. Cod have essentially vanished from the NE region of the Gulf of Maine and scientists don't know why, in part because of a lack of data collected at the federal level (cod live in shallow waters, and lobster gear makes shallow survey trawling impossible). This survey seeks to fill this knowledge gap, while also collecting data on the impact of the rapidly warming waters of the Gulf of Maine.