Craig (ESR13) presented floating wind to an elderly center in Portugal
On Wednesday, 22nd November Craig presented the FLOAWER project and a study into floating offshore wind for the elderly day centre where he practice Portuguese once a week.
Thanks to Assistenciapsov (www.apsov.pt) for this opportunity
on December 4, 2023
Craig White participated once again to an outreach activity, this time towards elder people from the Assistenciapsov center in Lisbon. Here is his testimony:
I felt it important to connect with not just my host institution but also the host country and its capital City where I live. I was give the opportunity to visit each week to learn Portuguese which I have been enjoying since 2020. We usually talk, play games and sometimes enjoy lunch together. A few weeks ago I offered to present the work of the project and what floating offshore wind could mean for Portugal, especially as the country had the first pre-commercial farm in continental Europe, the “Windfloat Atlantic” off its shores!
This was my first presentation completely in Portuguese and posed a challenge as it is not my native language. Also, the clients are of varying ages and some have disabilities, so getting the right technical level was essential to engage and interest the whole audience. I think I managed this, there were some good questions on the materials, how they affect the local environment and even some on marine growth! We also afterwards discussed the wider context – Climate change and how this will affect Lisbon and Portugal. The elderly people are an important demographic on this subject, they bring great experience and have witnessed first-hand how the climate has changed over a long period of time. Many of the residents come from the maritime industry and they understood the subject well. They had some interesting and thought-provoking views on the subject: They feel climate change is real, a problem and they support what we are doing in the FLOAWER project and at WavEC Offshore Renewables to challenge this global problem with real consequences for Portugal.
I felt it important to connect with not just my host institution but also the host country and its capital City where I live. I was give the opportunity to visit each week to learn Portuguese which I have been enjoying since 2020. We usually talk, play games and sometimes enjoy lunch together. A few weeks ago I offered to present the work of the project and what floating offshore wind could mean for Portugal, especially as the country had the first pre-commercial farm in continental Europe, the “Windfloat Atlantic” off its shores!
This was my first presentation completely in Portuguese and posed a challenge as it is not my native language. Also, the clients are of varying ages and some have disabilities, so getting the right technical level was essential to engage and interest the whole audience. I think I managed this, there were some good questions on the materials, how they affect the local environment and even some on marine growth! We also afterwards discussed the wider context – Climate change and how this will affect Lisbon and Portugal. The elderly people are an important demographic on this subject, they bring great experience and have witnessed first-hand how the climate has changed over a long period of time. Many of the residents come from the maritime industry and they understood the subject well. They had some interesting and thought-provoking views on the subject: They feel climate change is real, a problem and they support what we are doing in the FLOAWER project and at WavEC Offshore Renewables to challenge this global problem with real consequences for Portugal.
