Impact Projects
Blue Nature uses Impact Projects to turn ocean learning into real-world action, giving young people the space, support and connections to explore marine challenges and develop their own responses.
There is no single type of Impact Project; a response might become an:
We want to give our young people the opportunity to explore marine challenges that matter in their own communities, discover what interests them and develop their own response.
Students are supported by teachers, Blue Nature and project mentors as they investigate, design, test and communicate their ideas.
Multidisciplinary by design
Marine challenges do not sit neatly inside one subject.
Impact Projects can bring together:
Communication & storytelling
Policy & regulatory thinking
Business & enterprise
Collaboration & leadership
Science
Technology
Design thinking & problem solving
Project Management
In Action
Wave-Q
A drone-supported concept for water-quality sampling and monitoring, combining environmental science, remote sensing and engineering thinking.
Seaburn
A marine-policy simulation game exploring ocean governance, legislation and stakeholder trade-offs.
DeepSpine
Exploring whether kina and marine by-products could be used to create alternative fishing bait while connecting product development with restoration thinking.
Reconnect with nature in style
Developed with Albany Senior High School
Albany Senior High School has been Blue Nature’s main secondary-school pilot and demonstration site for more than three years. Through ASHS’s established Impact Projects programme, students have dedicated time each Wednesday to develop projects around challenges and ideas that matter to them.
DEDICATED TIME
Every Wednesday to investigate, develop and test their project.
REAL-WORLD SUPPORT
Teachers, Blue Nature, mentors, researchers, industry and community expertise.
LEARNING + NCEA
Projects can connect with relevant NCEA assessment opportunities where appropriate.
PRESENT + SHARE
Students present their work, explain their thinking and share what they have created.
3 years
100+ Students
30+ Projects
Bigger than the project
Impact Projects aren't designed only for students who want to become marine scientists.
The ocean is the context, but the skills students build, problem solving, research, communication, technology, project management, collaboration, enterprise and leadership- can travel with them into almost any field.
We want young people to leave with more than knowledge about an ocean issue. We want them to know how to take an idea forward, work with other people, navigate uncertainty and contribute meaningfully wherever they choose to go next.
Through Blue Nature, students also begin building the relationships around them, mentors they can call on, specialists they have worked alongside and peers who may one day become collaborators, colleagues or friends.
The goal is not to prescribe a career. It is to help young people build the capability, confidence and connections to make their part of the world better.