Putting the Impact in Impact Projects

Albany Senior High School has partnered with Blue Nature Aotearoa to give twenty Year 12 and 13 students a real-world opportunity to make an impact.

Blue Nature Aotearoa is a new trust co-founded by Hon Nikki Haye and Dr Nigel Bradly, with Kristen Gunnell, Hamish Forsythe and Claire Amos as trustees. Their mission is to restore ecosystems and create new biomass in oceans and coastal waterways through education, supporting and scaling social enterprises, new industries and blue technology solutions. Their initial focus is on delivering Blue Nature Youth Impact programmes where students will lead blue nature projects that will ultimately lead to blue economy ventures.

Based, every Wednesday, in the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in the Wynyard Quarter, Albany Senior High School is the first secondary school to be part of the Blue Nature Youth Impact Programme. Using the ASHS social impact project model to shape the 2024 pilot programme, science teacher Toni Shaw and a facilitator from Blue Nature Trust are working with the students to focus on plastics, mangroves and the use of blue technologies. Students are also partnered with mentors and environmental experts to ensure high quality projects.

Mulberry Grove Primary School on Great Barrier Island is the first primary school participating in the Blue Nature Youth Impact Programme. Students there are working with Professor John Cockrem and tech experts on the island creating a project involving blue penguins.

We can’t wait to see these projects evolving and sharing their findings with our community.