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Speaking 4 the Planet 2025 – Resources

The theme for the competition is informed by SDG 14 – Protecting life below water – and is ‘Making Waves: Our Ocean, Our Future, Our Responsibility’. Issues within this theme include marine plastics pollution, micro plastics in fashion, overfishing, the impacts of climate change, deep sea mining, and biodiversity loss. All entries and performances must be based on this theme.

All participants are urged to research the theme. This section contains numerous links to articles and websites that will help in the preparation of submissions. Participants are encouraged to do their own research as well.

1. Our Blue Planet     

1.1. Key marine issues

1.2 The impact of humans on this planet

  • Take a look at 11 ways humans have left a footprint that has forever changed the environment and the planet.
  • The United Nations YouTube channel has several image-filled videos that may inspire, such as those from BBC and Sir David Attenborough’s The Ocean and Us and Plastic Ocean (2017) and Health Ocean, Healthy People.
  • A planet on the brink (2019), by the United Nations. Global temperatures are expected to rise over 3°C, resulting in mass extinctions and large parts of the planet becoming uninhabitable unless we take urgent #ClimateAction now to stop the climate emergency.
  • ‘Tip of the iceberg’: Is our destruction of nature responsible for COVID-19?, by The Guardian. As habitat and biodiversity loss increase globally, the coronavirus outbreak may be just the beginning of mass pandemics.
  • One million plants, animals and insects are on the brink of extinction, threatening economies and livelihoods. A 2019 landmark UN biodiversity report details that an unprecedented 1 million plants, insects, and animal species are at risk of extinction. Many species will disappear within decades, a decline that could threaten economies and livelihoods across the world.
  • The United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) ended in Montreal, Canada, in December 2022 with a landmark agreement to guide global action on nature through to 2030. This is a 2 minute summary of COP15 goals.

1.3 Inspiration from international organisations

  • IUCN on ocean health – Nature’s Future, Our Future. “By 2030, a healthy ocean supports nature and people, governed by strengthened national and international legal frameworks and sustainable investments that retain and restore ocean and coastal biodiversity and associated services for future generations”.
  • University of Colombo, Sri Lanka: ākonga blog – Save the seas to see the future
  • An organisation with a particular focus on sharks and rays: Save our Seas Foundation, Switzerland  
  • The Nature Conservancy: Conserving our ocean – with lots of useful stats and images. 
  • The Earthshot Prize: Revive our oceans – a challenge toward 2030.
  • Oceana: Founded 2001 Oceana campaigns around the world for science-based policies that stop overfishing, protect habitat, increase transparency, protect our climate, curb plastic pollution, and increase biodiversity. Become a wave-maker!
  • Kinder – Dutch Not-for-profit: Save Our Oceans -listing ocean charities doing great work to make it easier for people to donate. Outlines the problems and offers solutions. 
  • Since 1999, Algalita Marine Research and Education has been at the forefront of the Great Plastics Awakening.
  • Check out these photos of Animals Navigating a World of Plastic. From crabs using wrappers as camouflage to hyenas sorting through mounds of trash, here’s how wildlife cops with our plastic problem.
  • A photographer’s work on marine plastic debris: Mandy Barker is an international award-winning photographer whose work involving marine plastic debris for more than 13 years, has received global recognition. 
  • Business Insider: The truth about ocean plastics. YouTube video.
  • The Story of Stuff: Various videos such as The story of solutions shows us how we can shift to a more sustainable economy, The Story of Microfibers, and The Story of Microbeads
  • Our health depends on our environment – the idea of Planetary Health: Everything is connected.  The Planetary Health Alliance is a solutions-oriented, transdisciplinary social movement focused on addressing the impacts of human disruptions to Earth’s natural systems and all life on Earth.
  • Sea People, West Papua – focus on protecting coral reefs.
  • Sea Trees – restoring kelp forests around the world

2. The Blue Economy

The oceans have long been a source of food and income for millions of people over centuries. The term used to describe how we use and conserve the resources of the ocean is ‘the Blue Economy’ variously described as the “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem,” (World Bank) while Conservation International adds that “blue economy also includes economic benefits that may not be marketed, such as carbon storage, coastal protection, cultural values and biodiversity.”

3. NZ Organisations active in the marine space

4.  Some helpful links:

  • World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on June 5th to raise global awareness about the importance of taking positive environmental action to protect nature, our planet and all the species on it. WED is run by the United Nations Environment Program. WED was established in Stockholm in 1972 on the day that the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment began. The first World Environment Day was celebrated in 1973. Since then, it is hosted every year by a different city with a different theme. The first theme was Only One Planet. In 2025 it is Our Land, Our Future hosted by Korea #GenerationRestoration
  • 16 Public Speaking Tips for ākongas by Very Well Mind.
  • How to Write Spoken Word Poetry by MasterClass. A great article to get ākonga started. 
  • Spoken Word poetry by rangatahi of Aotearoa. Check out Action Education’s YouTube channel for lots of videos of ākongas from Auckland performing their poetry for inspiration.
  • Ten Ways to Practice Improvisation Acting Skills with Betsy Balkom on YouTube. A great resource for Impromptu Drama teams.
  • Over the previous three years we’ve seen and heard some wonderful things. Much of the work submitted can be found on the Sustainable Ōtautahi Christchurch’s website. They may give you some inspiration.
  • You may like to read this article about how art can change the world.
  • Check out LEARNZ. This is an online learning environment where you can join virtual field trips exploring ideas in the context of different places. You may have joined some of their trips during a Geography or Science class.

5. Recommendations for competitors

5.1 Get outside:

  • Use all your senses to begin to understand the state of the oceans and coastal margin in your local area. Listen – can you hear the waves? What is the dune system like in your area? Do any sea birds nest in your area? How are they being looked after? What are the rivers like running to the ocean – do they run clear; can you see life in them?  
  • Gather a variety of natural materials – stones, sticks, shells, seaweed, leaves, etc. – and use them as a stimulus for art making. Focus on shape, line, texture, tone, colour and pattern.
  • Directly draw and/or paint the natural environment; take photographs and videos.
  • Explore emotional and physiological responses to the ocean – your own and someone else’s. Collate quick visual responses, words, and ideas about the ocean and beaches from your friends and whanau.
  • Imagine the audience you want to move and affect in some way (through the head or heart or hands). Think of ideas that will help an audience appreciate that we all have a role to play in looking after our blue planet.
  • Explore the ideas of restoration, regeneration and peace – why are they important now? Think about how these ideas and others could be interpreted through words & images.

5.2 Go to the library

  • You’ll be amazed by the knowledge librarians hold in their heads and they love helping people source really useful information. Some of the books, videos, artefacts and artworks in the various collections will surely inspire you. Check out What’s On for events that might interest you.
  • Tūranga has an amazing amount of options to help with your research and preparation. 

5.3 Join a local group

  • Forest & Bird Youth NZ: A nationwide network of young people (aged 14-25) who are protecting and restoring Aotearoa’s wildlife and wild places. They participate in volunteering projects that restore damaged habitats as well as engaging in other ways with environmental issues. You can find out more about the Christchurch branch by emailing youthchristchurch@forestandbird.org.nz or checking out their FaceBook page.

6.4 Find out about other environmental groups around the country

Earth Guardians: “We are a tribe of young activists, artists and musicians from across the globe stepping up as leaders and co-creating the future we know is possible. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Check out the site for ideas and activities. It contains some wonderful writing by youth.

Kids Greening Taupō: This initiative enables young people to participate in real life projects with opportunities to connect in a culturally responsive way to their local environment and community, increasing biodiversity, ākonga leadership and educational outcomes.

Kids Restore the Kepler: A project based in Fiordland with the aim of protecting the habitat of the many special animals still resident in the area, including kiwi, whio/blue duck and bats/pekapeka. Kids Restore the Kepler is an active conservation education programme. 

Jane Goodall Youth Network NZ. Their vision: A healthy planet where people make compassionate choices to live sustainably and in harmony with each other, other animals and the environment we all share.

ECO – Environment and Conservation Organisations of Aotearoa NZ: Works to protect New Zealand’s unique natural heritage and to foster the relationship New Zealanders have with it. The natural environment is central to our culture, economy and identity. 

Conservation Volunteers: This group believes that everyone can make a difference in the health of our environment and society. Volunteers can get involved by planting and caring for native trees, eradicating pests and weeds, protecting threatened species, and helping to make our natural spaces accessible to everyone. Projects focus on restoring our wild places and protecting NZ’s beautiful natural environment.