St George's International School Hosts Ocean Symposium for Students

On Friday 8 May 2026, St George's International School in Luxembourg-Hamm announced that more than 240 of its students and students from International School of Luxembourg took part in a symposium today to explore how to better understand and protect the oceans.

Held in honour of environmentalist and broadcaster David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, the Ocean Symposium brought together students, educators, NGOs and environmental organisations.

The programme featured a series of workshops and an exhibition that taught participants about the links between ocean health, biodiversity, climate and human wellbeing. The students also reflected on their role as future guardians of the blue planet.

Furthermore, the students also recorded a video singing Happy Birthday to David Attenborough. The school said it will forward the video to Attenborough and share it on social media to celebrate the inspiration his work has given to generations of young people around the world.

The school noted that the symposium highlighted the success of St George’s Ocean Gatekeepers programme, a student-led sustainability initiative funded by ProBleu that builds ocean literacy by helping young people understand how everyday actions on land affect marine ecosystems and inspiring them to become active stewards of the ocean.

Ocean Gatekeepers won the 2026 COBIS Changemakers Award, an international award from the Council of British International Schools recognising student projects that create meaningful social and environmental impact. As part of its commitment to ocean literacy, St George’s has joined the EU Blue School Network as the first school in Luxembourg to do so and has added lessons from the Ocean Gatekeepers programme to the curriculum. By becoming a Blue School, St George’s highlighted that it joins the EU4Ocean Network of European Blue Schools, embedding ocean literacy more deeply across school life and empowering students to take informed, practical action to protect the ocean.

Ocean Symposium guest speaker Captain Alex Cornelissen, CEO of Sea Shepherd Global, toured the exhibition to meet exhibitors and students and officially opened a life-size whale mural created as part of the Ocean Gatekeepers programme. He commented: “Ocean Gatekeepers is a wonderful initiative to harness the passion and ideas of the world’s future leaders. Like no others, young people understand the need for drastic change to preserve life in our ocean and our planet. I’m honoured to be able to share some time with everyone at the Ocean Symposium.”

Anne-Marie McHugh, Sustainability Coordinator at St George’s, said: “This symposium is a celebration not only of Sir David Attenborough’s extraordinary legacy, but also of the responsibility young people share in protecting our oceans. We are proud to see students engaging so thoughtfully with these issues and to be building ocean learning into the life of the school through Ocean Gatekeepers and our journey towards becoming a Blue School.”