The last three months have seen a lot of new activities and actions going on behind the scenes for the IOLN, and we’re using that as a excuse for our lack of posting!
The IOLN membership drive began in earnest in Autumn last year, with 35 founding members stepping up to lead the way on Ocean Literacy in Ireland. With the help of Gillian Mills and ERINN Innovation, the IOLN contacted existing and new potential members to seek their support, and we would like to send a huge ‘Thank You’ to all of you who have lead the way. This Network can only survive with the support and input of its members and we plan to repay your faith in us by providing lots of opportunities for engagement in 2025. More on this will follow soon.
With the Prep4Blue Project coming to an end, the IOLN saw the end of an era as the current secretariat role, held by Galway Atlantaquaria, and led by Dr. Maria Vittoria Marra, finished at the end of December.
Dr. Maria Vittoria said ‘It was an honour to continue the work started in 2018 by Dr Nóirín Burke and Garry Kendellen, who led the IOLN Secretariat on behalf of Galway Atlantaquaria before me. The IOLN was already a very inspiring organisation at the time, so it was fantastic to have the opportunity to be part of the remarkable growth it experienced in the last three years by becoming a well structured formal organisation guided by an aspirational Strategy for the years to come. For this, I want to thank the IOLN Directors and the IOLN Members for the support they gave me over the years, and of course the PREP4BLUE consortium for the opportunity given the IOLN to be one of the national Ocean Literacy Networks included in the citizen engagement-focused work carried out within the project. On this note, the participation in PREP4BLUE gave the IOLN the opportunity to increase its reach at international level. For instance my participation last year at both the World Ocean Literacy Conference and, the Ocean Decade Conference, will be experiences that I will always remember as significant milestones for me.‘
As their main last task on the project, Dr. Maria Vittoria organised the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Irish Ocean Literacy Network (IOLN), on December 4th in the Discovery & Learning Centre of Dublin Zoo. It was followed by the Annual General Meeting of the IOLN Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG).
The meeting was attended by 29 IOLN members and other ocean stakeholders who had the opportunity to hear what the IOLN has achieved in its first year as CLG, as well as to contribute to the discussion aimed at shaping the work plan of the Network for 2025. In addition, the meeting offered the attendees the chance to discover the stories shared by the engaging invited speakers, whose experiences range from media to blue economy, community engagement, bio-acoustics, and EU projects, as well as the inspiring ocean literacy work carried on by our IOLN members.
Speakers included Olive Heffernan, who presented a fascinating talk on her book ‘The High Seas’; Kate Burns, who is a member of the IOLN Advisory Panel, spoke about what marine innovation can mean to coastal communities. David Whyte, from MaREI, spoke about a number of projects he is currently working on, including Prep4Blue, MPA Life Ireland and Tidal Arts. Majbritt Bolton- Warberg from the Marine Institute spoke about the library campaign which was held during Bio-economy Week and Sorsha Byrne from the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (Mara) introduced us to the newly established state agency and its role and responibilities.
Prof Chris Bean, from the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies talked to the group about the exciting discoveries of the iMARL project, which looks at the interaction between the Ocean and solid earth below. Michael Officer, Programme Manager at Cuan Beo, presented on their Source to Sea education programme and finally Dave Wall, from the National Biodiversity Data Centre provided an update on Explore your Shore.
More information about the speakers, their talks and links to further information can be found in the full meeting report below:
After lunch, IOLN Director Heidi McIllvenny introduced the group to the draft 2025 Action plan, before a workshop was held to focus on the Working Group themes of Campaigns, Regional Needs and Capacity Building.
The day concluded with the AGM, which was led by the Chair of the IOLN Board of Directors David Murphy.
Once the 2024 AGM had been concluded, it was time for the IOLN Board to turn their attention to who would take on the role of steering the ship (pardon the pun!). The Executive Officer Role was advertised at the end of last year, and after lots of fantastic applications and interviews, the IOLN Board is delighted to announce the appointment of Catherine McCann to the position.
Catherine may be a familiar face to some members as a co-founder of The Sea Collective, the social enterprise based in Gaoth Dobhair (Co. Donegal), who have been IOLN members since their establishment.
With over 20 years of experience in science communications, citizen science and outreach programmes, Catherine has a love for communicating ocean-related themes and concepts to a wide variety of audiences – her passion is inspiring others to share knowledge, connect with and learn more about the incredible marine biodiversity and maritime heritage on their doorstep. A huge part of her work has been advocating for the importance of Local Environmental Knowledge, and providing opportunities for local communities to get involved in projects.
Commenting on Catherine’s appointment, David Murphy, Chair of the IOLN Board said “The Board believes that Catherine’s experience and drive will be a great asset as we seek to achieve our vision of a thriving network of ocean champions and organisations deeply engaged with local communities across the island. We greatly look forward to working with her, and ask you to join us in welcoming her aboard.”
Catherine is a self-confessed ocean addict, and has worked all over the world – including some of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, such as the Coral Triangle. She is convinced that marine biodiversity and maritime heritage in Ireland is just as spectacular as that found elsewhere.
“I look forward to working with the members of the IOLN to celebrate Ireland’s marine biodiversity and ocean heritage, and build on established ocean literacy campaigns. There’s been a huge amount of excellent work done by the members so far and by the Secretariat of the IOLN to get the Irish Ocean Literacy movement where it is today. I am grateful for the opportunity to build on their work.”
One of Catherine’s first responsibilities was to represent the IOLN at the Kick Off meeting for the GuardIAS project in Ispra, Italy, with Dr Nóirín Burke. GuardIAS is a new three-year EU-wide initiative funded by Horizon Europe that brings together a wide range of stakeholders and experts in Invasive Alien Species management. The IOLN has taken on the role of Lead for Work Package 6 of the project, responsible for dissemination of information from the project – so it was a week full of meetings, workshops, seminars and write ups to get a grasp of the complexities of the project and meet the key players involved. More information on GuardIAS can be found here.
