Access and Inclusion
Tackling barriers and inequalities in the marine sector
Our vision is for young people in Scotland, regardless of background or experience, to be empowered to have their voices heard in decisions about how our seas are managed.
Inclusion is one of our core organisational values so is at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and ensuring it is embedded across our organisation. We put EDI approaches into practice in all aspects of our work, including recruitment, training, event organisation and collaborations.
Who’s missing?
We recognise that the marine sector currently lacks diversity across many demographics, and there are many barriers to getting involved in marine policy and advocacy.
We believe that in order to change this, our work must seek to support young people from all backgrounds. They are the sector’s future leaders and we need all voices to tackle the issues facing Scotland’s seas today.
Barriers that exist to access marine policy and advocacy spaces can often be amplified for young people. Young people can also face multiple different barriers that intersect and exacerbate each other.
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There is a huge lack of ethnic diversity in the UK marine and coastal sector, with marine science being the least ethnically diverse degree. Read more via this report.
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Disabled people face more barriers to access the sea, participate in water activities and build careers in the maritime and conservation sector.
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People from low-income, disadvantaged and working class backgrounds may face financial barriers to access the sea, participate in volunteering and build careers in the marine sector. Declining ocean health can also disproportionately affect coastal communities and impact job opportunities and cultural heritage.
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Young people with caring responsibilities can experience financial, logistical and emotional barriers to accessing the sea, volunteering or building marine careers.
What we are doing
Positive Action & data
We use positive action approaches to recruitment to prioritise applicants from underrepresented groups. We have experimented with a number of different approaches and continue to refine and improve our processes. We also welcome different methods of application, i.e. audio, video etc.
To do this, we ask applicants and event attendees for Equalities monitoring data, asking people anonymously about their backgrounds and identities. This ensures we can continue to assess who we are reaching and where our gaps in representation are.
Accessible events
We design all our events and opportunities with accessibility in mind. Some of the considerations we take by default include:
Always asking members directly for access or support needs
Providing thorough information before, during and after events
Offering multiple ways to engage & participate in activities
Encouraging the use of accessibility aids
Modelling inclusive behaviour such as pronoun use
Financial barriers
We ensure all our activities are either free for everyone or for anyone who cannot afford it, with self-disclosure at the heart.
Our Youth Ocean Action Fund provides funding for young people to participate in training, events or other opportunities, and to financially support youth-led ocean action.
Young Sea Changers Trainee
Accessible, entry-level opportunities are essential to building a fair and inclusive future. We developed this traineeship, which is exclusively available for young people from an ethnic minority background, to help tackle a lack of racial diversity in the marine sector and provide a paid training and skill development opportunity for a young person of colour.
The traineeship offers a flexible, part-time position over the summer to gain hands-on experience in marine policy and advocacy, mentoring and personal development and access to networking opportunities.
Applications for our 2026 Traineeship will be live in Spring!
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group
Our EDI Working Group is made up of YSCS staff, our youth trustees and YSCS members from underrepresented backgrounds. The group meets regularly to discuss how to improve the accessibility and inclusion of YSCS’ work and incorporate young people’s feedback and lived experiences into what we do.
If you’re aged 16-25 and living in Scotland, or are already a YSCS member, and would like to join the group, please get in touch via contact@youthforseas.org.