By Allison Arteaga Soergel (featured on UCSC’s News Center)

The Blue Pioneers Program (BPP) Accelerator recently announced its 2021 cohort of international ocean conservation professionals who will visit UC Santa Cruz’s Coastal Science Campus as part of an eight-week leadership development training program taking place over a span of five months.

The BPP Accelerator, hosted by UCSC’s Coastal Science & Policy Program (CSP), recruits participants from around the globe—with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region—and equips them to address complex challenges through systems thinking and design thinking, collaborative problem solving, and rapid solution development.

The 30 participants in this year’s program are mainly early-to mid-career innovators, entrepreneurs, and NGO leaders. Their work intersects the fields of ocean conservation, sustainable food systems, climate change, renewable energy, gender equity, rights of indigenous peoples, and racial justice. CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING