GUARDNA - NAMMCO

GUARDNA – Guardians of the North Atlantic

Looking after our Seas to Conserve Marine Mammals

GUARDNA is the flagship educational initiative of NAMMCO, designed to inspire, educate, and empower the next generation of ocean stewards across the North Atlantic. At its core, GUARDNA aims to connect young people aged 7 to 20 with the North Atlantic Ocean, bringing the ocean into the classroom, and the classroom into the ocean. By combining science, education, and curiosity‑driven learning, the project encourages students to understand their role in the conservation of marine ecosystems, today and in the future.

Marine Mammals as Ambassadors for the Ocean

GUARDNA uses marine mammals as powerful ambassadors for the wider marine environment and as an entry point to understanding the complexity of ocean systems. By learning about whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and walrus, students explore not only these species themselves, but also the habitats they depend on, the pressures they face in today’s North Atlantic, and their cultural, ecological, and economic importance for coastal communities.

By focusing on marine mammals and presenting a holistic view of the pressures they face, their uses, and the people connected to them, GUARDNA highlights how caring for the ocean requires coordinated action, dialogue, and responsible and sustainable management across the North Atlantic.

An Open, Multilingual Educational Portal

A central output of the project is the development of an open‑access marine educational portal, designed to be visually engaging, scientifically robust, and pedagogically sound. The port al will host a wide range of learning resources, including:

School level‑adapted background information
Multidisciplinary activities that can be implemented across different schools subjects strengthening the understanding of interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability and management
Interactive and playful indoor and outdoor activities
Practical guidelines and teaching support materials for educators

All materials will be freely accessible and produced initially in English, with translations into Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Northern Sámi. This multilingual approach ensures that GUARDNA reaches young learners throughout the entire North Atlantic region, reinforcing inclusivity and regional ownership.

A Strong and Growing Partnership Network

GUARDNA is developed through close collaboration between leading educational, scientific, and outreach institutions across the North Atlantic. Current project partners include:

NAMMCO
Institute of Learning, University of Greenland (project leadership for the Novo Nordisk–funded component: Lars Demant‑Poort)
NÁM
STEM Húsavík
Nordnorsk Vitensenter
The Natural History Museum of Denmark

In addition to its project partners, GUARDNA maintains an active dialogue with schools, universities, scientific and environmental organisations, and researchers across the region, who contribute to improve and help expand the GUARDNA network.

Looking Ahead

GUARDNA is conceived as a living project. Continuous collaboration, feedback, and improvement are central to its long‑term success. The site is expected to be launched in 2027.