SFD for ocean conservation-assessing the development of ocean conservation related competences through a sport for development intervention amongst adolescents in Cape Town, South Africa.

Introduction: The Sport for Development (SFD) sector has so far enjoyed a longstanding practice in tackling socio-economic challenges in South Africa. Despite the increasing catalogue of topics addressed in SFD, the uptake of environmental protection, and further ocean conservation, is still uncommon and only practiced by a small number of local NGOs. Considering that the ocean's resources are indispensable to the survival of South Africa's population, this research aimed to address the mentioned topic within SFD (and in South Africa) by developing an SFD conceptual framework that teaches young adolescents ocean conservation and competences related to it in Cape Town, South Africa. Methodology: Based on the experiential learning theory by David Kolb, the conceptual framework includes a specifically developed ocean conservation competence framework, conveyed by carefully adapted sport-based activities. This SFD intervention was deemed as complimentary to the Ocean Guardian Workshop (OGW) of the collaborating nongovernmental organization I AM WATER. During the OGW, young adolescents are taught how to snorkel in the ocean, giving them the opportunity to physically experience the ocean, while learning and developing a sense of embodiment and emotion towards preserving it. Aiming at deepening this impact, the SFD intervention was applied directly after the completion of the OGW for four consecutive weeks. To evaluate this intervention, a quantitative pre and post- survey approach was applied, addressing the ocean conservation related competences acquired throughout the combined OGW and SFD intervention. Results: The results were analyzed using an independent t-test and demonstrate no significant differences regarding the development of ocean conservation related competences. Discussion: The discussion places great emphasis on the reflexivity of the researcher, highlighting the short-term nature of the study and the dynamics in Global North to Global South research.