Lunenburg Ocean Centre

Lunenburg Ocean Centre

Our plan is evolving

The Lunenburg Ocean Centre (LOC) is a prospective multi-purpose facility in E’se’katik or “place of clams” (Lunenburg) in the land of Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia).

The LOC is designed to help foster healthy connections between the Ocean and communities. It is a place to facilitate communication needed to share knowledge, learn together, and collaborate on ocean-related issues through development of effective and innovative solutions.

What is an ocean centre?

An ocean centre is a facility, often located by the sea, that offers educational, research, and recreational opportunities for people to deepen their connection with the Ocean.

Typically, ocean centres feature interactive exhibits, educational programs, and workspace for projects exploring topics such as fisheries, marine biology, oceanography, ocean tourism, conservation, and sustainability.

They can offer research facilities and programs for scientists to work with other marine professionals and knowledge holders.

Ocean centres often serve as community gathering spaces for events, workshops, and other activities related to the Ocean and coastal environments.

Mission

Establish and advance healthy relationships with the Ocean and collaborations that support sustainable livelihoods in coastal communities.

Objective

Create a hub of collaboration and inspiration that brings together passionate, capable individuals, interactive learning opportunities, and exposure to leading ocean industry, research, and technology developments.

Approach

Public engagement through interactive displays in partnership the Discovery Centre
Experiential education, with several youth camps planned for Summer 2023!
Ocean sector workforce training and development
Room of requirement for special events (seminars, workshops, community events, and more)
Communal workspace with meeting room and professional workstations (aka "hot desks") available to rent

Adjacent facilities provide workshop space and vessel berths.

Lunenburg's world-class local mariners facilitate cost-effective access to the coastal ocean.

“The youth of South Shore Nova Scotia really need a science based and ocean tech driven hub to spark early interest in our region’s and perhaps the planet’s most important area of research.” Dov Bercovici - Discovery Centre, President and CEO

Core Concepts

Ocean Love

Ocean Lifestyle

Ocean Literacy

Healthy Relations

Experiential Education

Multi-generational Livelihoods

Sustainable Ocean Economy

Sustainable Harvest

Workforce Development

Working Waterfront

Innovative Solutions

Location

The recently renovated Zwicker and Company Warehouse (Zwicker Building) on Lunenburg's working waterfront is the planned home for the LOC.

If arriving by sea, the nearest aid to navigation is lateral buoy (green) E77. The physical address is 146 Bluenose Drive.

The location is ideal for facilitating access to the coastal ocean environment and to provide public engagement with ocean information and industries.

Background

SOAR was the successful applicant to Build Nova Scotia's competitive Business Development Opportunity.

We were selected due to being in strategic alignment with several goals laid out in the Lunenburg Waterfront Master Plan for 2019 – 2023 along with the highest community, social, and economic impact and enabling a boon to ocean research and innovation capacity for the region.

Our proposal was bolstered by over 20 letters of support from ocean sector organizations, including:

Want to get involved?

Please read on!

Join the school of fish!

Donations enable:

Youth camps planned for 2023
Display space for not-for-profit and/or charitable organizations and other groups of knowledge holders that conduct ocean research, education, and/or conservation.
Development and delivery of education, training, and research programs

Recognition will be provided through adding a fish (of many shapes, sizes, and sources) to our donor wall.

More information coming soon!

Please contact us to discuss if this is of interest to you.

LOC Membership

Membership packages have been developed to provide value to ocean sector companies, not-for-profit organizations, government departments, and philanthropists who would like to connect with people through use of space at the LOC. Membership fees support operating costs for the LOC.

Benefits

Dedicated space for displays on the publicly accessible main floor to connect with visitors to the LOC
Contribute to youth experiential learning and workforce development programs
Discounts with local marine service providers
Helping to sustain the working waterfront and create ocean sector employment in rural coastal communities
Access to workshop, wharves and floating docks for vessel berthing (fees apply)
Opportunity to partake in build out with Discovery Centre
Attribution for your enabling support though our donor wall, website, press releases, and other materials.

Please see contact us for more details.