Germany: Ocean Youth Summit - Ocean Race Europe Kiel 2025

To mark the start of Ocean Race Europe, young marine experts from six stopover countries will gather in Kiel for the five-day Ocean Youth Summit @ Ocean Race Europe. The participants will bring young and interdisciplinary perspectives on sailing, sustainability and marine conservation. After all, the Ocean Race Europe is not just a sailing competition, but also a unique platform for international dialogue on the future of our oceans.  

What began as a lively exchange at the Ocean Race Stopover 2023 in Aarhus will continue at this year's start of the Ocean Race Europe in Kiel: 25 early career ocean professionals from six stopover countries and from Aarhus, Denmark, will come together for a five-day meeting. In addition to meetings with Team Malizia and other Ocean Race participants, the programme includes lectures, participation in the scientific Ocean Summit, a public film evening with panel discussion, workshops, discussion rounds and plenty of time for networking and personal exchange.

ECOPs shape the present and future, the protection and sustainable development of the oceans. The organisers Kim Nierobisch, Jonas Blendl, Charlotte Rahmsdorf and Lilly Baumann describe the aim of the Ocean Youth Summit as follows: ‘It was important to us to bring together different perspectives on ocean racing, sailing and water sports, with a particular focus on highlighting young voices and promoting interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary dialogue.’  
             
The summit is organised by the Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOP) association of the DACH region and the German Committee for the UN Decade of Ocean Science (ODK), whose office is located at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel and is managed by Ulrike Heine: ‘The ECOPs are a key group of actors in the UN Decade of Ocean Science: they help shape the scientific, economic and political framework for the protection and sustainable development of the oceans – and will continue to do so for a long time to come,’ says Ulrike Heine from the ODK office.

There are also plans to write a scientific article reflecting on the interdisciplinary collaboration between ECOPs within the framework of the summit.

The summit is supported by numerous organisations in Kiel: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel Marine Science, Team Malizia, CINEMARE International Marine Film Festival Kiel, FYORD, Segelcamp, Magenta Project, EnJust, sealevel, Kiel Marketing, Ocean Summit, KDM, Friends of the Earth, Ev. Studierendenheime in Kiel e.V.