Bringing the Ocean to Life: Eco-Anchor Design Competition for Luderitz Learners
We could not have thought of a better way for us to help achieve our mission of increasing marine biodiversity than by involving the Luderitz youth and unleashing their imagination, creativity and ingenuity.
At Kelp Blue we believe that encouraging and nurturing concept development from a tender age is a vital step towards a brighter future and building knowledge so we launched an Eco-Anchor design competition which targeted Luderitz based schools and learners.
The youth of today are the marine engineers, biologists and ocean leaders of tomorrow. As such, we envisaged the competition would enable the young and curious minds to express their interpretation of ocean science.
The competition challenged learners to share the views and interpretations of a “souped-up” concrete anchor. These anchors keep the Kelp Blue sub-marine structure on which the giant kelp will grow fastened to the ocean floor. They were asked to show how the structures could be modified to boost marine biodiversity and make the anchor ‘less boring’ by turning it into an eco-friendly marine habitat.
It started with a visit by Kelp Blue to all of the local schools for a briefing session where we explained how we want to grow giant kelp off-shore, the structures we will be growing it on and also about how if we place something in the ocean, we want it to benefit the ocean as much as possible.
After their curious minds were piqued, the teams were invited to create drawings of what an anchor crawling with marine life could look like. Many beautiful drawings and artistic interpretations later, we organised a workshop for all four teams ar our Kelp Blue offices. Teams were given the opportunity to create their designs at miniature scale and present them to a panel of judges. The presentations and designs, were, each and every one of them, outstanding.
And ultimately, nature will determine the winner, so each of the teams will have the chance to monitor their design in action over the coming year. After one year, we will be showcasing the design that has managed to make the anchor teem with life.
Good luck to all and thanks for joining!
