The Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) and the American Institute in Taiwan Kaohsiung Branch Office (AIT/K) will host the Ocean Challenge 2020 focused on challenges confronting oceans worldwide on November 3rd, 2020. OAC will cooperate with AIT/K to host Ocean Challenge 2020 with high school Students, which invite youth in Taiwan to involve in solving our marine environment challenges and finding out solutions to the pressing ocean problems around the globe.
 
The 6 finalist teams of Ocean Challenge 2020 are joint team of Kaohsiung Senior High School and Tso-Ying Senior High School, International Bilingual School at Hsinchu Science Park, National Ping Tung Industrial Vocational High School, Morrison Academy Kaohsiung, International Bilingual School at Tainan Science Park, and Kaohsiung American School. They will share the ideas on topics including marine debris, blue economy, ocean environmental education and ocean plastic waste reduction.
 
AIT will invite Mr. Eben Schwartz, Marine Debris Program Manager of the California Coastal Commission, to be the keynote speaker. His topic is “Breaking the Plastic Addiction: California’s Attempt to Find a Solution to Plastic Pollution”. Mr. Eben will share his precious experiences with the audiences on working with hundreds of NGOs, local government agencies, and corporate partners to coordinate beach cleanups as well as developing long-term policies that will stop pollution from its source. We sincerely invite you to attend Ocean Challenge 2020, the linkage of the website is https://forms.gle/eTxg9RnxE1Zc9DwS6.
   
OAC Minister Lee Chung-Wei indicates that all countries have been concerning on the issue of marine debris, and Taiwan and the United States pay much more attention on ocean conservation. OAC will continue to strengthen Taiwan-US cooperation relationship, in terms of enhancing marine education, and working together for the sustainable development of the ocean.