"Words on Water Festival" Director Rick Wilson will showcase three years of prize-winning excerpts from the annual "Words on Water" writing contest for water-themed poetry, prose, and playwriting, their performances and readings, and host writer talk-backs. You will be amazed and delighted.
You can find the recording here for the "Words on Water Festival"
Meet the Festival Prizewinning Writers
The "Words on Water Festival" will continue with a Celebration of the Prizewinning Student Writers at Climate Week Blue this Fall.
Climate Week Blue will be an international virtual event of interdisciplinary speakers, panels and climate entrepreneurs. Here are a few of the presentation topics: educating and engaging the next generation, ethics and the blue economy; ocean floor challenges and opportunities; security issues from climate change; and community resiliency in the face of sea-level rise.
At the end of the day - it's all about their future.
We aim to help educate young people to be the next generation of "Water Thought Leaders" for their communities and the wider world. That could be as simple (and important) as serving on a local water resource committee, or exploring the burgeoning opportunities and career pathways in the blue economy & blue tech water, maritime infrastructure, resource, and innovation sectors.
As a research center we will offer rotating topics of interest to bring siloed, educators, researchers and practitioners together for a semester at a time from academia, industry and government to take a deep dive into collaborative working solutions - because we believe strongly in "innovation through collaboration."
The BLUE Institute is mission driven to support early stage BlueTech and blue economy startups (including ideas growing within a university or a garage), and to develop more sector diversity and inclusion. To address the significant challenges facing the more advanced startups - particularly in BlueTech & blue economy - water and the ocean are harsh environments and expensive to test/pilot in - the BLUE Institute Labs, PBC was created. As a Public Benefit Corporation it is committing 10% of its profits towards scholarships, fellowships, and early stage BlueTech and blue economy entrepreneurs at the Blue Institute. Our vision that co-locates the two entities - BLUE Innovation Center - supports regional and global economic development, research, entrepreneurship and commercialization in water security, resiliency, aquaculture, BlueTech, and marine technology. The BLUE Innovation Center will be the first oceanfront "Blue Tech" and Blue Economy hub on the US Eastern Seaboard - a “True BLUE Cluster!”
Our unique water-centric undergraduate “Blue Semester” program - the first cohort in 2022 will be comprised of hands on experiential learning drawing from cross-disciplinary fields integrating science, art, policy, engineering, humanities, economics, and technology, and mini-internships with area practitioners, agencies and organizations. The program will introduce students to the rapidly growing opportunities in the “blue economy" & to also create a generation of “water knowledge ambassadors" to better serve the world. Introductory level, advanced undergrad and graduate courses will be available. Are you a college student or know one who might be interested in participating? Contact us at info@blueinstitute.org
When the BLUE Innovation Center will be up and running research residencies will be open to scientists, graduate students and advanced undergraduates completing capstone projects. Students will have access to entrepreneurs and the innovation labs, fresh and salt water testing sites, and the area marine environments. The Institute supports sustainable water & ocean research which will bring together private and public sector projects, and research scientists in a unique open-access academic and environmental setting fostering collaborative exchanges, blue cluster development, and an innovative ecosystem. We are all about networking ideas, resources, people, and projects - locally, regionally, and internationally.
BlueTech and Blue Economy startups, particularly early stage companies need mentorship from scientists , engineers , and other "in the field practitioners " technologists or aquaculturalists. Entrepreneurship is hard. Water and Ocean related technologies and services are incredibly challenging because they need to be designed or deployed in the harshest environments on earth. Blue Institute is uniquely situated to support Bluetech and Blue Economy startups at the early stages of growth through specialized programming, networking, internship placements, and pilot & proto-typing opportunities. We are particularly focused on inclusive engagement and creating more opportunities for women and entrepreneurs of color to not only thrive in BlueTech & Blue Economy, but drive the BlueTech and the Blue Economy.
Community engagement offerings on water and climate change cover many disciplines such as the Seaweed & Algae panel, local authors community writing workshops, and "Words on Water" writing competition for World Oceans Day, community science panels, Women on Water lecture series, H20 STEM Community Conference. K-12 special curriculum events for children, and future educational support for teachers through hands-on research focused workshops are being developed. We are the happy recipient of a significant and valuable give of numerous tethered ROV's (remote operated vehicles) and look forward to having students try these out in the water when covid allows. Also in planning are cross-generational collaborations through classroom and onsite experiential learning incorporating schools, community, and senior citizen area programs. We are particularly excited to be currently working with students from UMass Dartmouth as well as the MET School in Newport, Rhode Island.
Are you passionate about what we're doing? Are you ready to dig in? Let us know! We are always looking for volunteers to help us make our vision a reality. We'll help you find a way to volunteer that best suits you. We're excited to have you join the team!
Join us next summer (covid allowing) at Harwich on Cape Cod, New Bedford, Mass and Newport, RI to learn more about the water all around us to explore STEM related BlueTech and underwater robots. Email us for info: info@blueinstitute.org
Whether you help through monetary donations, volunteering your time with us, or spreading our mission through word-of-mouth, thank you. We accomplish our goals with the help of supporters like you. Thank you!