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The Ocean Symposium was a great success on Saturday, with over 120 people attending the event at the Hastings Museum and online. Organised by Wild Coast Sussex Communities and Wildlife Officer Ella Garrud with Gonzalo of the United Nations Association. This is our third Ocean Symposium, and is increasingly galvanising Sussex marine interests.

This year, the theme of the event was ‘Think Global, Act Local’. The event launched the UNA Decade of Ocean Science in Sussex and we also launched the Sussex Blue Charter. This document gives local people, businesses and organisations simple actions they can pledge to do to help the health of our ocean locally. This is a live document that will be expanded and developed.

It was a sold out event with 80 in-person attendees, and it was also streamed live online where it was watched by over 40 people (from Sussex, London, Tunbridge Wells, Cardiff, Canterbury, Sweden and Taiwan) We had 11 speakers giving a wide array of talks about global and local projects. Sussex Underwater also premiered two new films which were really inspiring, and gave the audience an incredible insight into the magical underwater world of Sussex. Nikki Hills, Wild Coast Sussex Project Manager, presented on the Project and we are tackling Ghost Gear.

It was fantastic to be back doing an in-person event, and it will continue to be an annual event in collaboration with the United Nations Association.