Water Revolution Foundation Kicks off its Second Year

After a year that can be characterised by strong industry support and willingness to improve, the inaugural year of Water Revolution Foundation has officially come to an end. The board looks back on this year with pride. The support, and what the foundation achieved, went beyond its expectations and the board is strongly motivated to continue along this ambitious path to accelerate sustainability in the superyacht industry.

Annual Report

Officially rounding off the year, the annual report not only shows the financial status of the foundation, but also reports on the activities and accomplishments of its inaugural year. And, of course, it is digital-only to ensure that the foundation is doing what it can to reduce its own footprint.

Read its Annual Report here.

Course to Expand your Knowledge & Skills

In total, 42 industry professionals have already taken the course and are now sustainability practitioners in the superyacht industry. The next course is planned to take place online on 23 & 24 July, 2.5 hours on both days, from 1.00 pm until 3.30 pm CEST. Currently there are nine seats still available. The Foundation has also pencilled in a physical course to be held again during METSTRADE in Amsterdam on Thursday 19 November. Of course, only if the circumstances allow it to take place. Please find more information, testimonials and the registration form on the website.

Ocean Conservation Programme

On World Ocean Day on 8 June, the team symbolically introduced its vision for ocean conservation. Our industry is intrinsically connected to the oceans and its future relies on their health. Alongside the efforts and tools to reduce the footprint of the superyacht industry, they recognise that for a well-rounded approach and a sustainable future, they must also directly invest in conservation efforts. The inaugural collection of conservation projects, all given the scientific seal of approval, will be launched later this year, inspiring the superyacht industry to take action to protect our most crucial natural resource.

Yacht Assessment Tool – Animation Part II

Following the introduction of a Yacht Assessment Tool through an animation video, part two is now ready to watch, explaining the Life Cycle Assessment approach that the tool is based on. The Foundation is currently working with several of its valued partners to assess their case studies and, alongside this, fine-tuning the tool. The data collection phase appears to be a time-consuming phase but is crucial for performing assessments. Although case studies are one-on-one exercises and the results will remain confidential, they aim to share aggregated results for the industry to learn from. To watch part one of the animation and read more about the tool visit the website.

Sustainability Award

Despite only being one year underway, Water Revolution Foundation was surprised to be recognised by Robb Report as the winner of their Sustainability Award. The explanation was that “Water Revolution Foundation’s business model made the most sense for longevity because it was being funded privately by some of the strongest superyacht brands in the industry. We also felt that the self-interest of these brands (making sure the oceans are healthy) was a stronger base than just altruistic organizations who rely on outside funding. We also felt that you were coming up with practical sustainability models that each shipyard could use internally in order to gauge and monitor their environmental impact. We felt that this was the most promising and serious effort we’d seen by an internal organisation. This was our first Sustainability Award, and we felt that it should go to a group, even in its infancy, that would be around for a long time.”

Year Two: Sustainable Solutions

The second year of activities officially started on 1 July. In addition to the ongoing activities kicked off in the first year, the major deliverable for year two will be a database of sustainable solutions. The goal of this database is to collect sustainable solutions in one central open platform and share them with the superyacht industry to make everyone aware of these solutions, encouraging their adoption in both new build and refit projects. Solutions could also come from alternative materials, for example, in construction or interiors. The aim is to launch the infrastructure of this database at METSTRADE 2020, with a call to action to come forward to all suppliers who claim to have a sustainable solution. The Yacht Assessment Tool enables the team to verify whether a solution is indeed a sustainable one and therefore qualifies to be included in their database.