Edinburgh Ocean Leaders

Edinburgh Ocean Leaders (EOL) is hosted by the University of Edinburgh, and is financially supported by the University, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, Baille Gifford, and other organisations and individuals.

EOL is designed to accelerate the leadership, creativity and influence of exceptional ocean professionals working together to make a significant positive impact on the health of the World’s oceans. Our underlying ‘theory of change’ is that distributed, creative and enabled leadership is a prerequisite to achieving this urgent and transformational positive change.

This rationale informs the goals and design of the programme, in particular, support for the Ocean Leaders to enhance their: transformative leadership capabilities; complex problem solving abilities; and international reach and influence through collaborative action.

The overall goal of EOL is to create and sustain a life-long network of ocean change-makers. Towards this, the programme supports leadership training, mentoring, professional development and online networking opportunities. This typically includes: a series of remote and face-to-face coaching dialogues; annual induction event and meeting; a joint field mission; and engagement with international ocean initiatives to help shape tangible pathways into action.