OGTP... intrigued?

So, OGTP is not some new fancy acronym that the cool kids are using, it is actually just the acronym for the Ocean Governance Training Program that IOI-SA has just finished running... Well, actually it finished last week Friday but recovering from running a 4-week long course takes a little while (and I prefer to blog when the sun is shining - sun makes me a happy person). It is also a partial excuse for my lack of blog posts recently, which at least one person has commented on (THANKS M! I love that someone noticed). 

I want to avoid sound like I am writing up the course report (because I have actually already done that), but I do want to chat about it a little bit. Organising the course was really my main job description so it has been taking up a lot of space in my head and I loved it! When I started here I didn't have a good grip on what 'Ocean Governance' actually is, but now I understand why, it is too huge a thing to get a grip on, it includes everything from shipping and maritime law to alien invasive species and climate change; and yes, we crammed that all in to four weeks. 

Zandvlei

And the biggest perk of this job (for someone who is a nerd like I am) is that I got to sit in on almost all of the lectures, so when I went to watch 'The Martian', (movie with Matt Damon - very good you should check it out!) (I also got free lunch everyday which is pretty awesome). I felt like he was talking about an old friend when he mentioned International Maritime Law. Yes, I know exactly how nerdy that is. 

Zandvlei again.
It was lovely, great
views and lots of birds but also with a HUGE
litter problem (mostly getting
washed down from the informal
settlements, suburbs and
urban areas)... 

So, I promise not to give you a blow by blow account of the course because it is possible that the thought of UNCLOS and ballast water management doesn't make you as it excited as it made me (for at least the duration of the lecture) but I wanted to say that the course really highlighted the HUGE challenges and possibilities that exist in the world. I love that the world has come together recently to commit to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and while I am not naive enough to ignore that the world has come together to make promises in the past (I did after all go to the public parts of the WSSD in Johannesburg) I remain optimistic (actually, there was an advert about it before 'The Martian' and when has there even been an advert like that before a main stream movie?). I hope that good things also come out of the climate change meeting in Paris in December - hold thumbs. I love that these issues are being discussed and taken seriously at the highest level. I also love that this course brought together very intelligent and competent people from all over Africa who will hopefully return to their own countries and carry on the discussion and start making change from within Africa.  

I am aware that people kind of cringe when I sprout on about sustainable fishing or plastic pollution or recycling AGAIN and AGAIN, but I think this is something we should all be talking about - I mean, even Russell Brand is talking about climate change (I saw him in Cape Town recently, (thanks M) and he is really funny while he talks about it). I think one of the mistakes we ALL make is thinking it is someone else's problem, but it isn't. Things change only when there are enough people wanting it to change. I mean people are pretty amazing and inventive but while we actually can't realistically or successfully manage the climate or environment, we can manage people's behaviour. 

The OGTP crew at International Coastal Clean Up Day

I know it is so hard to think about what impact every tiny decision you make will have on the environment, and hard to prioritse in the face of life's insistent immediacies: can afford your bond; what school would be best for your kids; how to deal with that annoying person at work; where to watch the rugby... but we also can't ignore it anymore. OK, enough preaching, thanks for indulging me. The course highlighted a lot of the problems that are out there, which could feel a little overwhelming and depressing, but I am trying to think of it as an opportunity, we can all do something... What are you going to do?

PS I also love that they called me 'Dr Shannon', cheap thrills :)