Love Your Ocean

Nowhere else can water sports enthusiasts experience sustainability topics more intensively than at the Love Your Ocean initiative in Hall 11 of boot Düsseldorf, curated and organized by the German Ocean Foundation. With well over 200,000 visitors, boot is the world's largest water sports trade fair and an absolute Mecca for all lovers of the sea and water sports in Germany.

We are delighted to have been running this project together with boot Düsseldorf since 2017. At our Love Your Ocean area, we offer partners from business, science and society a space to present their innovations and pioneering projects for more sustainability in water sports. Together with more than 80 partners, we offer visitors of all ages the opportunity to find out about the latest developments in ocean sustainability, listen to presentations, take part in workshops and discuss with our network of experts on site.

The area in Hall 11 invites visitors of all ages to participate: from live labs with fascinating seagrass ecosystems and demonstrations of ghost net recovery to interactive exhibits made from marine debris. At research stations, guests can use microscopes, discover plankton, examine water samples, or visualize microplastics. Children and young people can experience hands-on science. Numerous organizations are on-site to present current projects, engage in conversation and answer your questions. Love Your Ocean highlights positive developments and aims to raise awareness of the importance of protecting our ocean.

Since 2021, the initiative has been under the umbrella of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Seven islands dedicated to the seven outcomes of the UN Ocean Decade are spread out over an area of almost 800 square metres. On the Water Pixel World stage, people from all over the world present their sustainability projects in 15-minute intervals.

School classes have the opportunity to visit our marine biology team for an interactive introduction to marine life. Our program is designed for primary and secondary schools, from first grade through high school. Visit slots can be booked here. School classes will be guided through the entire Love Your Ocean area and can interact with all of the organizations represented there.

Three important events round off our programme: the highlight of the "Research at Sea" competition gives each team the opportunity to present their research results collected during the week spent on the ALDEBARAN the preceeding summer. The Foundation also organizes the Ocean Forum on the Water Pixel World stage, where scientists, researchers and NGOs briefly present their latest projects. The annual “ocean tribute” Award recognizes the best international initiative working to protect the ocean with a prize of 20,000 euros.