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The winners of the Blue Water Heroes awards 2023 were announced at a private ceremony in Singapore on November 3, as part of the three-day Blue Water EduFest by ONE°15 Marina
Water covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, but only 5 percent of it has been explored by humans. Among what little we know is that the oceans absorb 90 percent of the excess heat that is a cause of climate change, including carbon dioxide produced by human activities.
Water is the basis of life on Earth as we know and understand it, but this precious element that is unique to our planet is often taken for granted.
Read more: Saving nemo: Why protecting our oceans is everyone’s problem
ONE°15 Marina’s Blue Water EduFest was conceived to promote protecting our waters for generations to come. The non-profit event, organised by SUTL Group, which owns the marina and ONE°15 Events Management, was launched in 2022 to build awareness around and accelerate efforts in ocean conservation in Southeast Asia.
Termed the “Blue Water Movement” by Arthur Tay, the chairman and CEO of SUTL Group, it aims to build a platform for solution-based discussions and activate action-based partnerships with governments and industry partners across the region.
A highlight of the Blue Water EduFest is the Blue Water Heroes, an annual award recognising changemakers, who have dedicated their lives to ocean conservation and protecting coastal communities across the region. Powered by Tatler Gen.T, the award celebrates three individuals from Southeast Asia making a positive impact.
The second edition of Blue Water EduFest, which ran from November 2 to 4, also featured the two-day The Ocean Collective Summit (TOCS)—organised by The International SeaKeepers Society and The Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center—and a beach and marina cleanup on the final day.
Conserving our lifeline
Talks at the Ocean Collective Summit focused on four key pillars: Plastic pollution and circular economy, ocean governance for sustainable ocean management, ocean technology and blue finance.
Emcee Paul Foster welcomed guests before handing the time over to the first keynote speaker of the day: Renowned aquanaut and filmmaker Fabien Cousteau, who kicked off the event with a discussion on ocean innovation and technology. He shared his plans for the International Space Station of the Ocean, Proteus, a patented state-of-the-art, modular underwater laboratory complex, enabling scientists, aquanauts, astronauts, teachers, artists and more to conduct unprecedented research to develop technologies and innovative solutions to Earth’s most pressing problems.
Jeremy McKane, who helms ocean technology company OCN.ai, followed with Cousteau’s keynote, sharing his technology solution, the BlueSense platform, which offers unprecedented opportunities to improve our understanding of the ocean and drive impactful conservation efforts.
Read more: How to impact a billion people, according to climate-tech startup Carbonbase’s founder
Later in the afternoon, there were also presentations by Blue Water Heroes 2022 winners Melati Riyanto Wijsen of Bye Bye Plastic Bags and Youthtopia, Thanda Ko Gyi of Myanmar Ocean Project and Dr Louisa Ponnampalam of MareCet Research Organization.
Quizzes, games of Kahoot! and brainstorming sessions were interspersed between the talks and were enthusiastically participated in by attendees.
