The ocean plays a fundamental role in mitigating climate change by serving as a major heat and carbon sink. For most people the ocean is abstract and difficult to comprehend, which poses a major communication challenge.

This Spring, the University of Bergen (UiB) will send 90 students to sail across the Pacific Ocean onboard a sailing vessel from the 20th century. They will serve as crew members, whilst undertaking an interdisciplinary university course. This course will be taught by some of the most distinguished climate researchers at UiB, exploring a variety of different subjects including biology, sociology, law and social anthropology.

During their voyage, they will travel through some of the world’s most climate endangered locations as they work to raise awareness on the importance of our ocean and to show the concrete effect of climate change, and how it will impact the people living in the Pacific Region. You can follow their efforts on Tik Tok, Instagram and YouTube.

During this presentation we will talk about how communication advisors can empower students to make climate research accessible to a younger audience and how that can be beneficial for the university brand.

I work as a communication advisor at the University of Bergen. My interest is working in the intersection between communication and marketing, and in particular digital marketing. I like to find the connections between the driving forces of a project and the needs of the audience, with the aim of being able to satisfy both at the same time.