From 3 to 5 July 2026, GOCEAN brought its commitment to life in Gorée through three days of learning, encounters and action. At the heart of the launch were children, the protection of their island and a practical shared focus: tackling plastic pollution.
A launch focused on reducing plastic waste
Choosing 3 July as the starting point was meaningful: it is International Plastic Bag Free Day and part of the wider Plastic Free July movement. GOCEAN connected this mobilisation with everyday life in Gorée: shopping bags, packaging left in public spaces and waste that can reach the shore. The question for everyone was simple: how can we prevent waste before it becomes pollution?
Children as participants and messengers for change
Children played a central role in the activities. The aim was not only to share messages, but to let them observe, ask questions and participate. Screenings, including the Our Planet series, discussions and practical activities connected the discovery of nature with familiar situations: what we consume, what we throw away and what we can reuse. This approach gives children an active part in caring for their surroundings, alongside adults.
From briefing to clean-up: learning by doing
Collective action in Gorée’s public spaces gave these discussions an immediate practical expression. Green caps, GOCEAN vests and gloves accompanied children and facilitators in the field. Preparation, collection and the gathering of bags made the waste in everyday spaces visible. Sorting and attention to different materials also provided opportunities to learn: distinguishing types of waste, considering what happens to them and thinking about ways to produce less.
Meeting residents with practical alternatives
Awareness work also reached the streets and people’s doorways. Accompanied by adults, children took part in conversations with residents, including discussions about reusable bags. These encounters made reducing single-use plastics tangible: keeping a bag, using it again and remembering to take it shopping. They also showed that a cleaner island grows through relationships between families, children, sanitation workers and the wider community.
Reuse, create and grow
Creative recycling and gardening workshops continued this approach. Finding new uses for suitable containers, sowing seeds and discovering cuttings connected waste with the living world. A container kept for reuse can become a learning tool; a seed planted in soil calls for care and follow-up. Reuse belongs within a broader approach: reducing disposable uses first, keeping suitable items in use for longer and improving the management of remaining waste.
The Young Sentinels: sustaining the commitment
The launch also laid educational foundations for the Young Sentinels of Gorée. Their notebooks support a journey of observation, discovery, activities and commitments. The aim is for children to revisit what they have learned, follow their actions and share their questions with those around them. A clean-up thus becomes a starting point for continuing education about environment, climate and heritage, connected with other GOCEAN programmes, including One child, one tree and A cleaner, greener Gorée.
Protecting the island and sharing responsibility
These three days made GOCEAN’s purpose tangible: starting from Gorée’s realities to connect climate, environment, heritage and human rights. Caring for the places we inhabit also means protecting living conditions and the possibility of passing them on. Tackling plastic pollution offers an accessible starting point. It requires individual choices, collective organisation and sustained action. Children have a full place in that effort: they learn, participate and already help change how their environment is understood.
On the ground
The story in pictures.
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