On the 22nd March 2022, Edinburgh Ocean Leaders (EOL) hosted an event at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco in the framework of Monaco Ocean Week.
The event was attended by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, attendees of Monaco Ocean Week and over 40 local university students.
In the first session, opened by co-founder and co-director of EOL, Meriwether Wilson, we heard from four Ocean Leaders who shared their diverse experiences and insights on leadership
Yolanda Sanchez spoke of inspring young people to become ocean leaders and her experiences with marine education in Latin America; Shirley Binder shared her experience as leader for the ocean in the Ministry of the Environment in Panama; Ilena Zanella reflected on her journey in creating marine NGO Misión Tiburón and, Hugo Tagholm underscored the power of mobilising the public as ocean leaders in their own right.
Following their talks, the leaders had a panel discussion moderated by Master of Ceremonies and Ocean Leader Harriet Harden-Davies. The Ocean Leaders reflected further on their leadership stories and overcoming leadership challenges.
In session two, event attendees joined the Ocean Leaders for roundtable discussions. This gave the opportunity for attendees to reflect and ask questions about what they had heard from the Ocean Leaders.
During the round table discussions, everyone at the table was encouraged to share their thoughts on opportunities and barriers in ocean leadership. These reflections were fed back to the rest of the group in plenary session led by EOL co-founder and co-director Sandy Tudhope.
