This summer, twenty young people from Inishowen became expert Coastal Explorers via a 10-week marine and environmental skills programme coordinated by the Inishowen Basking Shark Study Group. An additional ten trainees took part in a 1-week intensive internship to gain insight into working in the marine sector.
This innovative training programme (which was funded by the EU LEADER programme through the Inishowen Development Partnership and Donegal County Council) ran from March to July, and focused on exploring the coast and learning more about local marine life through science and environmental discovery.
Programme coordinator Rosemary McCloskey said: “The young people taking part in the training showed a genuine interest to learn about their coastline; the topics and content were tailored to meet these interests. As a result, the trainees gained a whole host of knowledge and skills about the marine sector, as well as personal and professional skills that will serve them well in any path they choose.”
Speaking about the programme, one of the trainees Sadhbh remarked, “It was great fun. I learned a lot about marine biology. I made amazing friends and loved it so much. I became confident and learned lots of new skills in the marine sector.”
The outcomes and evaluation of the training progamme are now available for download on the Basking Shark website or you can check out the project video on Youtube for the highlights https://youtu.be/K4ZsHzfAL-c.