The Student and Schools Partnership Declaration
Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas
EMECS 10November 2, 2013

Lessons Learned to Address New Challenges

Global Communication in Action
This declaration serves as the unified voice of the students, coming from Japan, Turkey, and theUnited States, who have had the opportunity to benefit from the EMECE 10 and MEDCOAST
2013 Joint Conference, an academic and cultural experience for which we are all grateful.
Throughout this conference, we have come together, across language barriers and otherchallenges, to enjoy the company of our fellow students, as well as conference members fromover forty countries.
The idea of applying previous lessons to help remedy new challenges is one which we findprovocative and inviting. We are the generation of change, the generation for which
technology is not an additive, but a component of our lives. It is our belief that thesetechnologies can bring us closer with nature, as opposed to separating people from nature. We
feel that we may yet be of great service in finding ways to apply new lessons to the tasks whichcurrently seem so daunting. Yet, to do this, we still need assistance from you, our mentors,educators, role models, and forebearers.
First and foremost, we need constant and meaningful communication. There is nothing which
can replace the sharing of ideas and information, as this is what molds our decisions as well as
our dreams. We ask that you facilitate our interactions with members of the internationalcommunity. If this conference has taught us anything, it is that it is foolish to approach
environmental problems while ignoring the experiences of the broader community, so again,
we ask you to guide us so that we may learn the way.
We also need opportunity. As researchers, if you are able, please engage with your colleagues
as well as youth. Not only do we need technical assistance, but by involving us in research andhands‐on experiences, you help to instill lifelong passions, a thirst for knowledge, and a drivefor sustainability which may never be quenched.

At this conference, we have heard professionals express appreciation for the honesty of youth.
When allowed to work beside you, we offer feedback from a new perspective, and more
importantly, we observe and learn from you. This allows us to shape our own futures in a moreactive way.
We ask that scientists and educators appreciate the value of connections between people andthe places in which they live, that basic inspiration which brought many of us to theenvironmental field. Continue to advocate for change, turning your research into real
improvements in the world. Teach your students to do the same. We are inspired by the naturalworld. It amazes us, and we can only ask you to help us understand our place in it so that wemay help in the effort to improve our environment.
Just as we ask things of you, our adult role models, we hope you can place demands on us.
Expect students to challenge themselves and to broaden their horizons to include the many
dimensions of this changing world. Do not accept answers from us that are anything less thanextraordinary. Though we may be young, we hope to be held to high standards. Expect us toignore the improbability of success when tackling environmental issues. Just as you once were,
we are blind of the biases that come with age. Help us discover our talents by pushing us toattempt the impossible.
If we can all come together as scientists, teachers, policy makers, stakeholders, and students to
support mutually beneficial endeavors, much like we have at this conference, then new
challenges can be addressed, and solutions will always be found.