Marevivo and MSC Foundation launch “Blue Corners” across Italy for a greener future

School study facilities bring Guardian Dolphins programme to life in lockdown and beyond

Focus Area: Marine Conservation

Guardian Dolphins of the Islands, an educational programme of Italian marine conservation charity Marevivo, has reinvented itself through lockdown to continue reaching around 1,000 students in 21 primary schools on the islands of Lipari, Salina, Vulcano, Stromboli, Panarea, Alicudi, Filicudi, Favignana, Marettimo and Elba, as well as in the town of Milazzo in Sicily.

Enabling continuity of engagement despite the temporary impossibility of students getting out of the classroom for activities such as field trips and beach clean-ups, Marevivo and MSC Foundation are supplying every participating school with a “Blue Corner” facility. Each Blue Corner takes the form of an attractive and welcoming display and study unit made of sustainably-sourced wood. Supplied complete with teaching cards and a video tutorial created by Marevivo specialists, the Blue Corners support teachers to inspire their pupils with a range of stimulating activities using standard classroom scientific equipment and teaching materials. So that even when the schoolchildren can't get out into nature, nature can still get into their schools.

“Marevivo has been committed to environmental education since it was founded,” observed Laura Gentile, Marevivo Project Manager for Guardian Dolphins of the Islands. “Teachers are our allies in helping even young children understand how important it is to protect the marine environment, because healthy seas are essential for human life and the life of our planet.”

“MSC and Marevivo have been working together since 2014,” explained MSC Foundation Executive Director Daniela Picco. “Our initiatives in schools and on all the ships in the MSC Cruises fleet involve over 200,000 children in educational activities every year. We’ve been involved in the Guardian Dolphins programme from the very beginning, supporting it not just financially but with the know-how of our long seafaring tradition to raise the awareness of Italian primary school pupils as future champions of our seas and Blue Planet.”