As concern for our oceans grows, Oceanic Society seeks to influence travelers to protect the world's oceans. The new initiative is part of the organization's Blue Habits project that addresses the root cause of ocean issues-human behavior.
This new effort addresses the importance of engagement in order to solve the problems of pollution, sustainable seafood, and climate change and aims to bridge the gap between public awareness of the problems our oceans face and the personal action necessary to resolve them.
"Most people assume that simply raising awareness about environmental issues is enough to make people act differently, but behavior experts know that's not the case," said Roderic Mast, CEO of Oceanic Society. "Our goal is to figure out how we can go beyond awareness to inspire measurable, long-term change and to work with other travel operators and non-profits to undertake the same approach."
The first phase of Blue Habits' efforts was undertaken alongside Stanford University's Graduate School of Education and Woods Institute for the Environment in 2016. The effort was focused on Oceanic Society's whale-watching cruises as a catalyst to encouraging long-lasting pro-ocean behavior.
The next phase builds on the results of the first and takes a broader approach. Phase II has received seed funding from Booking.com's Booking Cares Fund and will see Oceanic Society and Stanford working side by side to innovate, test, and refine a proven, scalable approach to pro-ocean behavior change among nature-based tourists, partnering with tour operators worldwide.
"Supporting like-minded organizations that are committed to exploring innovative solutions that contribute to the long-term sustainability of the global tourism industry is something that we're incredibly passionate about at Booking.com," said Marianne Gybels, who leads Corporate Social Responsibility at Booking.com.
"We're proud to fund Oceanic Society's Blue Habits project because we believe that it can lead to long-term, transformative behavioral change, with the potential to have a meaningful impact not only on how we travel but how we live our lives on a daily basis," Gybels added.
Stanford will host conservation and tourism stakeholders at its famed d.school to kickoff the project. The goal of the event is to address ocean conservation challenges as a design-and-innovation problem. Participants will rapidly adapt strategies based on real-time feedback using a design-thinking process that Stanford pioneered.
Oceanic Society will implement new methodologies on its international expeditions programs and California whale watching tours taking place in more than 20 countries and serving more than 3,500 visitors annually.
"Through the Blue Habits project we hope to tackle the critical global challenge of ocean conservation through tourism, one of the world's biggest industries", said Mast. "We believe that most nature travelers and tour operators want to play a bigger role in maintaining healthy oceans. The Blue Habits project aims to give them the tools and information they need to convert that desire into meaningful daily action."
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