SANO Excursion 1H2021

… is calling on master’s students, PhD candidates and other young researchers in South Africa and in Norway to join forces in combating plastic waste and preventing marine pollution. To succeed in this fight, before it is too late, we need more data and new knowledge as a foundation for decisive actions by governments, companies, and individuals. SANO Excursion 1H2021 aims to contribute by facilitating young people working together across academic, social, geographic, cultural, and legislative boundaries.

The program, “Interns for Sustainability”, is made possible by a generous grant from the Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund. This pilot project, running from January to June 2021, will bring together 40-50 young researchers (and their supervisors) from both countries. The participants will form small working groups, each focusing on a particular issue (to be decided by the group) related to plastic pollution. The idea is that sharing ideas, insights and knowledge across traditional boundaries will enrich and add value to the participants’ individual projects at their home institutions.

The pilot project will kick-off in January 2021 by digitally connecting concurrent workshops at the Sustainable Seas Trust in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and at NTNU in Trondheim, Norway. We hope to be able to bring everybody together in person at the concluding workshop in Norway in June 2021, Covid-19 permitting. In the interim, the groups will work together on-line, augmented by weekly guest lectures and information sharing within the pilot project.