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We are Ocean Community Report

OrganisationWe are Ocean
Date publishedNovember 2023
FormatPDF
How long will it take to read?30 Mins
Download linkClick here

This report is the culmination of our work with the We are Ocean community over the last 12 months.

Our aim has been to better understand what the community looks like now, how community members are engaging and what a collective vision for the community might look like.

For this project we worked alongside members of the We are Ocean community, All the Elements founder Soraya Abdel-Hadi, illustrator Jasmine Hortop & designer Caro Weisberg. Much love also goes to Dan Burgess & Sue Ranger, two of the original We are Ocean founders for their support & insights throughout.

Key Takeaways

  • A decentralised community still requires a level of structure in order to function effectively- people need to understand why they are gathering, what the purpose is, and how they can take part.
  • We are Ocean was co-founded by a group of engaged & passionate individuals – all of whom dedicated time and energy into the collective. Maintaining this level of commitment isn’t always viable but we must pass on the spark – new community leaders must be found, onboarded & given the resources to continue the work.
  • It is vital that the next chapter for WAO includes active outreach – to break the siloes. We risk continually preaching to the choir and recycling the same speakers (and therefore points of view).
  • Silence or lack of consistent comms is really dangerous to a community – it creates disconnection and for some, a sense that they’re not being kept in the loop
  • The people in our community don’t need new ideas – they barely have the capacity to keep up with their own projects. But what would benefit all would be an opportunity to tap into the collective intelligence of the community (and a wider network of experts who want to support ocean projects) to amplify & support their work.
  • We have to make it easy for people to get involved – to meet people where they are at, to listen to their needs and to show up in a way that feels genuinely useful.
  • Funding is essential for the core operations of a community – Even at its most basic level, we need to cover the essential costs (email newsletter/website hosting etc) and community leaders time.