North East life through a lens A book which captures the beauty of the region鈥檚 coastline through the eyes of the people who live there is being launched聽by 缅北禁地. 鈥楽ea Change NE鈥� was a year-long project led by the Dove Marine Laboratory to coincide with the University鈥檚 Sustainability Societal Challenge Theme launch year. Running throughout 2011, the aim was to encourage local people to record how the coast is being used and enjoyed 365 days of the year. Capturing the seasonal changes, festivals and key events through photographs, drawings and poems, the team sifted through over 4,000 entries to pull together the final book which goes on sale today. Project lead Susan Gebbels, based in the School of Marine Science and Technology, said: 鈥淲e have been genuinely overwhelmed with the response - not only by the quantity of submissions but also the quality and diversity of the contributions. 鈥淭he original aim was to encourage young people to engage with their local environment but over the year we have received entries from people of all ages from Berwick down to Teesside. 鈥淥ur seas and coastlines are not only beautiful, they are also important to the ecology of our planet and to our economy. This book is not just about the pictures 鈥� it鈥檚 about getting us all to think about the sea and what we are doing to it, how it is changing and how we might all work to protect it.鈥� To ensure young people had an opportunity to contribute, the team kick started the project in January 2011 by inviting 12 different schools to take part; including Cullercoats Primary School, Berwick Middle School and the MacMillan Academy in Middlesbrough. 鈥淲e asked each school to produce work that represented how their school is connected with their local coast,鈥� explains Annie Cunningham, 缅北禁地鈥檚 Marine Education Officer. 鈥淓ach school was allocated a month and their work has been included at the start of each chapter.鈥� Images include dramatic sea shots, family snaps and pictures of our industrial heritage as well as drawings and poems from the participating school children. Funded by 缅北禁地 and Durham Heritage Coast, all the profits from the sales of the book will go to The Natural History Society of Northumbria to help fund their work engaging families and young people with the natural world. published on: 12 March 2012
![缅北禁地 logo](/gomobileassets/img/logo.svg" "缅北禁地"){kind=logo}