2026 · 2nd Cohort · Jun 16 – Nov 10 · ITA Seoul × Save Heels
"Copy-paste your résumé, or write your own chapter?"
Numbers From The Field · Korean coasts, 2020–2026
Trash items logged via mclear
Citizen plogging activities
Environmental activists on ITA platform
Blind spots · waiting for first record
Mission 2026 · What we will deliver by November 10
Marine plastic is one of the hardest environmental problems of our generation. We're not pretending it's easy. We're saying: here are five things we commit to making, with names and numbers attached. If we miss any of these on November 10, we'll say so publicly.
GOAL 01
New citizen-science baselines added
10 teams × 1 beach × 6 months = 10 new monitoring points beyond the existing 190.
GOAL 02
Korean youth cohort added by you to UNEP GPML
Your 6-month dataset becomes the first attribution in Korea's GPML Country Dashboard contributor list at closing.
GOAL 03
"SEA:CURITY 2026 Annual" English report published
Bilingual annual report shared with GAA partners in 12+ countries.
GOAL 04
First-ever records added to South Chungcheong blind spots
Of 176 unmonitored beaches in S. Chungcheong, at least 3 will get their first verified dataset.
GOAL 05
Teams using AI workflow on real beach data
Documented Claude/Gemini/ChatGPT use cases — Korea's first AI × citizen-science model.
"Citizen-collected, ICC-classified data is what bridges local cleanups to global policy. Without it, we have intuition. With it, we have evidence."— UNEP GPML Webinar, "Evidence-based Policy Making", 20 May 2026 (ITA Seoul attended)
We were in that room. ITA Seoul joined GPML's webinar on how country-level dashboards turn citizen data into policy evidence. We brought the question back to your beach: what does it mean for a 21-year-old in Jeju to add one more verified row to Korea's GPML dashboard? SEA:CURITY 2026 is our first cohort designed end-to-end around that question.
▶ Watch the GPML webinar recordingPlacemaking · You + one beach + six months
A beach is not a place until someone keeps coming back.
Same beach, three visits. See the same shore through three seasons. The first encounter is curiosity; the third is intimacy.
Four people, six months, one shared responsibility. Small enough to not scatter, large enough to back each other up.
Your data leaves your phone, flows through Korea's GPML dashboard, lands in UN global policy material.
What it is · The shape of the program
Most coastal cleanup programs hand you a trash bag and a 3-hour slot. SEA:CURITY hands you a beach, six months, real budget, AI tools, and one question: what story are you going to tell?
PILLAR 01
Your team picks one Korean beach. Visit at least 3 times across summer-autumn 2026. Track its change. Make it a place, not a stop.
PILLAR 02
Use csresea to classify every piece of trash (ICC 19-category). Your name is on the row. Your data joins Korea's coastal dataset and UNEP GPML — verified, attributed, permanent. We don't own the record; we curate it. You're a co-author.
PILLAR 03
Optional Claude/Gemini/ChatGPT license (₩25-30K from team stipend). Use AI to analyze your dataset, draft your SNS posts, translate for the global feed.
6 Tracks · Pick 1–3 when you apply
Each track gives you the language to talk about what you did — in your cover letter, your LinkedIn, your interview. Pick 1-3 when you apply. Pick your "primary" at the end. We don't lock you in.
"I designed and ran a coastal campaign from scratch."
Maps to: Service planning · Public sector · NGO leadership · ESG strategy
"I created ocean-environment content that actually moved people."
Maps to: Brand marketing · Social media · Content strategy · Creator economy
"I collected and analyzed marine debris data with my own hands."
Maps to: Graduate research · Ministry of Environment · Public institutions · Environmental consulting
"I ran an environmental project tied to corporate CSR."
Maps to: Corporate ESG team · Sustainability management · Impact consulting
"I reported from coastal sites and published the story."
Maps to: Reporter · Broadcasting PD · Environmental media · Long-form writing
"I led 10 people to care for a local beach for 6 months."
Maps to: HR · Local government · Public organization · Community management
Global Recognition · Where your work travels
Most volunteer programs end with a photo and a thank-you. SEA:CURITY data enters a four-tier global pipeline. Your participation is documented in English and shared with UN agencies, EU networks, and the global beach-adoption community.
Your team's ICC-classified data flows into the global plastic pollution database and Korea Country Dashboard.
Bilingual (KR/EN) certificate signed by GAA. Recognized by partner programs in 12+ countries.
Korean youth cohort recognized in the global beach cleanup network (UN SDG 14 partnership).
Co-resourced with provincial sustainability programs. Your activity counts toward provincial reporting.
Cohort History · We didn't start today
SEA:CURITY has run twice before. Each cohort learned. The 2026 cohort is built on what worked, what didn't, and what's now possible because of AI.
ITA Seoul's first attempt at a youth-led adopt-a-beach supporters program. Recruitment closed September 18, 2022. Small-scale pilot; valuable lessons about cohort cadence and team dynamics — the seed that became today's program.
February 2024: ITA Seoul launched "Earth Investment Insurance K" (envest.kr), where citizens earn credits via daily Z-SDGs zero-waste actions and invest those credits into environmental restoration products. SEA:CURITY became one of two flagship products — "10,000 investors' ocean reserve — fishing-debris removal across 4 cities on Korea's west coast, 20 km total." The other: 리:포레스트 (forest reserve).
SEA:CURITY single-day expansion at Incheon's Seonnyeo Rock Beach (Eulwang-dong). Meeting point: Incheon Airport (shuttle to beach). Benefits: ₩150,000 per team for transit and meals, Kyobo Life · Life Insurance Council supporter certificate, 2 volunteer hours, plogging kit rental, participant rewards. Validated the single-day open-participation format that later expanded to Jeju.
November 1, 2024: ITA Seoul officially designated by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries as the national operating office for Korea's Adopt-a-Beach program. Role: participant recruitment, activity management & evaluation, marine environment education, partnership with local governments. This designation institutionalized SEA:CURITY as part of the national infrastructure — not just a single NPO program.
May 16 – October 24, 2025. 30 students recruited nationwide as individuals or 2–3 person teams. ₩200,000 per team. Activities: cleanups on World Ocean Day & Coastal Cleanup Day, partner-adopted beach monitoring, content creation. Benefits: completion certificates, SaveHeels eco-footwear (1% for the Planet — 2nd year), 1365 volunteer hour certification, excellence awards with national-meet participation. The format that 2026 inherits and doubles.
10:30–12:30 at 제주시 조천읍 조함해안로. ~20 participants matched into teams of 4. Activities: marine debris collection + data logging, SNS content publishing, policy-suggestion action reports. Bonus volunteer hours for SNS sharing. Co-organized with KT&G — proved the cross-region partner expansion model.
40 students (10 teams × 4), ₩300,000 per team (+50% vs 2025), 6 tracks, optional AI license (Claude/Gemini/ChatGPT), bilingual GAA certificate, GPML data donation at closing, English annual report. The first cohort designed end-to-end around AI workflows on ICC-classified marine debris data. Built on 4 years of accumulated learning — pilot (2022) → platform (2024) → official cohort (2025) → AI-native cohort (2026).
Timeline · Five months, three activities, your pace
AI Tools · Claude · Gemini · ChatGPT
Optional ₩25-30K license per team — reimbursed from stipend, paired with a 30-minute training video showing how to actually use AI on your beach data.
FAQ · Honest answers
5 minutes · No coding · Individual or team applications welcome
This isn't a task we hand out. It's a seat at the table we're still building.
