Brighton Sustainability Conference "The Evolving Seas" Day 1

Here is some general feedback and pictures from the Sustainability Conference “The Evolving Seas” held in Brighton this year by Brighton and Hove Council. On day one, I presented an illustrated presentation about the dynamic and diverse Sussex coastline and the equally diverse local marine ecology. On day two, I ran one of the eco-tours to Shoreham Beach Local Nature Reserve. I also took along a display of my own One World One Ocean.

Day 1
The first day speakers concentrated on issues (in 20 min slots) including spatial planning, the coastal access Bill, Marine Conservation Zones, impact of climate change on our local coastline, coastal erosion and the Brighton Marina. There was also a presentation from the Blue Gym (the original co-founder of surfers against sewage) and my presentation on local marine ecology.

Samples pics and topics from my talk. Some  from my talk

It’s a bit of a challenge to sum up our marine ecology in only 20 minutes and do it justice, so I went for very visual. My PowerPoint presentation consisted of an ariel tour from Bognor in West Sussex to Hastings in East Sussex to illustrate the diversity of Sussex Coastline. At various stages along the way the presentation looked at some examples of marine ecology – Shoreham Beach was one of the stop of places (which also gave a chance to introduce the following days ecology tour on the LNR).

Our diverse coastline

Shoreham Beach LNR

Kingston Beach

Brighton Beach

Rottingdean Beach

The presentation then looked very briefly at offshore marine wildlife, including sea mammals and ended with an overview of the how climate change (and other global issues) might impact on our local marine ecology (using local and global examples).

Common seals

Examples of some of the globaconservation issues

I ended with the One World One Ocean mission statement from my project of the same name (basically illustrating how the oceans are part of our daily lives).

I was pleased to receive some very positive comments, both from the academics and general members of the public who attended.

In between speakers there was a chance to network and look at the various display stands. I also had a stand, One World One Ocean project focusing on the Adventures of Ed the Bear Project http://adventuresofedthebear.blogspot.com/ and other educational projects including the LNR Education Programme.

Me and my display stand