A year fully packed with new WE ARE OCEAN Projects!

In June 2025 we participated in the UNOC3 (UN Ocean Conference 3 in Nice in June 2025) with WE ARE OCEAN_Nice Raconte-moi la Mer! Together with our school partner Collège Jules Romains in Nice (WAO Nice has been selected during an open call organised by the EU-funded SHORE project and will receive 9.900 € to implement a blue project on the topic of the Mediterranean) we launched the project in March with the artist Morgane Ganault supported by the marine geologist Christian Gorini from Sorbonne University Paris and CIESM, in collaboration with the Musée D´Art Moderne et d´Art Contemporain (MAMAC) in Nice, France.

During UNOC3 in Nice we presented the results of the artistic-scientific workshops and local excursions to the river deltas in Nice with the students. They shared their experience in two events to the diverse experts taking part in the conference. Once at the Beyond Borders Pavillon on the 4th of June and then as an official side event on the German research vessel METEOR on the 12th of June.

Sweden: We established our non profit ARTPORT Sweden with our Swedish team Oliver David Krug and Olga Krzeszowiec. We will soon be back with details!

Last year we continued our journey of Ocean Literacy with our WE ARE OCEAN Global Program under the UN Ocean Decade:

Our WE ARE OCEAN Global Program is endorsed by UNESCO as a UN Ocean Decade Project until 20230 and as such we promote Ocean Literacy (https://oceanliteracy.unesco.org/) to make the an intact ocean a goal for everybody, particularly young people.

As the director of ARTPORT_making waves, Anne-Marie Melster is a member of the German UN Ozeandekade Komitee (https://ozeandekade.de/) and together with a highly engaged team working pro bono to make the UN Ocean Decade and its goals more visible in Germany.

In April 2024 we participated in the UN Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona with a side event where we screened the film WE ARE OCEAN Wadden Sea_KUNSTreusen by Insa Winkler and had a lively discussion with the audience about the WE ARE OCEAN Mar Balear Project and how interdisciplinary projects can contribute to Ocean Literacy. The audience cam from diverse backgrounds, academic, research, policymakers, and many early career people.

In June 2024 we finally brought WE ARE OCEAN to the Balearic Sea. Together with the artist Miguel Sbastida and the marine scientist Sandra Mallol, students at CEIP El Terreno (Palma de Mallorca) had the opportunity to dive into the world of corals. Through art and science, they could explore the beauty the corals living right next to them. WE ARE OCEAN Mar Balear was co-led by our director Anne-Marie Melster and Axelle Vergès from Positive LAB. We want to thank ProBleu Schools for having made it possible and Ona Futura Foundation and Associació veins Bellver d’El Terreno for the additional support.

In October 2025 we were invited to the the Award Ceremony of the Planet Hero Award by ZURICH Insurances in Cologne, Germany, to which we were nominated! A great honour to be recognized for our almost 20 years long work for a healthier planet. We met many engaged colleagues who are also warriors for water and ocean health. https://www.zurich.de/de-de/ueber-uns/nachhaltigkeit/zurich-planet-hero-award/gewinner