Last month, our OceanEarth Foundation Program Managers, Claudette Rechtorik and Jessica Leck, presented at the launch of Redlands School’s #OceanXChallenge at Greenhouse Tech Hub, Sydney. Claudette shared the work of our Ocean Youth program, while Jess spoke about the GhostNets Australia program and our unique approach to applying systems thinking to help drive transformational change in ocean conservation. The overarching aim of sharing OceanEarth Foundation’s work with the Year 9 students was to identify the problem the organisation was aiming to solve, and the challenges it faced in doing so in order to stimulate the ideation and problem-solving skills of the students.
“Innovation will help us in the fight for our oceans, but it’s often popular because it fits neatly within existing economic systems. At GhostNets Australia, we look deeper at the decisions our social systems shape, and search for levers within those systems that can create sustainable, rippling change,” said Jess. “It was so exciting to hear the students had already explored systems thinking in the last session and were eager to apply what they had learned to real-world ocean issues.”
Claudette shared her insights on where to start when trying to tackle a problem. “As a problem solver you will be faced with not knowing what the next steps are when starting something new. However, taking the next small step, by asking someone who may know a little bit more than you, will provide insights and ideas of what your next steps might be. Gathering information is crucial during every step of your journey. We don’t have all the answers. That’s why the problem has not yet been solved.”
The students spent the remainder of the week developing their own solutions to some of the challenges the panelists shared, and we can’t wait to see what they present on Friday!