Launch of an IRD Ocean Youth Club in Brest
In March 2025, 32 high school students from Brest will be embarking on a scientific and civic adventure with the creation of a Club Jeunes Océan – an initiative launched by the IRD in partnership with Surfrider Foundation Europe. Supervised by their teachers and an oceanography researcher from the institute, they will learn about the scientific approach to exploring the impact of marine waste and how to take concrete action to protect the environment.
The Young Ocean Clubs initiative launched by the IRD is part of ‘2025, Year of the Sea’, in preparation for the United Nations Conference on the Oceans, to be held in Nice in June 2025. Seven clubs have been launched in mainland France, overseas France and Africa. Supervised by four teachers of Life and Earth Sciences, Physics and Chemistry, History and Geography and French, the Brest branch will benefit from the scientific support of Christophe Maes, a researcher at LOPS (Physical and Space Oceanography Laboratory). A specialist in the dispersal of plastics at sea, he is studying their pathway on a global scale to better understand their impact and propose solutions.
Field trips to analyse coastal pollution
The Club Jeunes Océan programme is organised around eight sessions combining awareness-raising, an introduction to the scientific approach and practical experience. After an introduction to the issues involved in protecting the oceans, the pupils will head out to the coast to collect and analyse waste. With the support of our researcher, and using the data collected in the field, the students will carry out an investigation to try and understand where the waste comes from, the behaviour that causes it and how to take effective action to limit this pollution.
A plea to defend their ideas to the public
As well as making scientific observations, the students will be asked to draw up a plea to raise awareness among the public and decision-makers. They will work together with their supervisors to determine the awareness-raising action they want to take, thus becoming true ambassadors for the preservation of the oceans.
