The 2025 Ocean Awareness Contest – Connections to Nature: Looking Inside, Going Outside – encourages young people to explore the natural world and their place in it. There are so many different ways that you can connect to nature, whether that’s exploring the history of the land you live on, volunteering in the fight against climate change, or taking a restorative walk in your local park. Bow Seat invites youth ages 11–18 to think about their unique connection to nature and how being outside makes you feel. Go through the sub-themes and explore the topics that resonate with you. Share your relationship with the natural world through art, writing, performance, film, or multimedia. What is your connection to nature?

Submissions are due by June 9, 2025. Learn more about the Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest at https://bowseat.org/programs/ocean-awareness-contest/contest-overview/.

Who can apply? 

Students can participate as an individual or as a club, class, or group of any size. All students must provide the contact information for an Adult Sponsor (teacher, parent, mentor, etc.) Students who have started college or university are not eligible to participate in the Contest.

About the Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Contest

The 14th annual Ocean Awareness Contest is a platform for young people to learn about environmental issues through art-making and creative communication, explore their relationship to a changing world, and become advocates for positive change.