On April 8, ProBleu organised the event “The European Blue Schools toward the ambitious target of UNESCO about ocean literacy in the school curricula“, a dialogue promoted by ProBleu, SHORE and BlueLightS: Consortia Coalition under the EU Ocean Mission toward the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) goal.
This conference, held as part of the UN Ocean Decade Conference 2024, showcased the collaborative efforts of various projects and coalitions committed to ocean literacy and sustainable education and took place in the Institut de ciènces del mar (ICM-CSIC). In addition, more than 30 people followed the event online.
Marco Talone, Associated Deputy Director of Internationalization and Science Diplomacy ICM-CSIC opened the session, giving an overview of all ocean literacy initiatives led by the host institution.
Ana Vitória Tereza De Magalhaes, Associate Programme Specialist at UNESCO, emphasized the importance of ocean literacy in formal education systems and presented their framework consisting of knowledge and awareness, nature connectedness, values and attitudes, and competencies. She insisted that the launch of a new blue curriculum in 2022, developed in cooperation with various stakeholders, aims to integrate ocean literacy into school curricula worldwide, and she endend their presentation by inviting all participants to contribute to Venice declaration.
Claudia Pecoraro,Communication Officer of Healthy Seas and Ocean unit DG Research and Innovation, European Commission, spoke about the initiative of EU Mission Restore Our Ocean and Waters Charter, inviting to endorse it and take part of this community.
Afterward, it was time to showcase the three sister projects that contribute to the mission by promoting water literacy and ocean literacy within school communities. The coordinators of ProBleu, SHORE, and BlueLights—Luigi Ceccaroni, Afsin Cetinkaya, and Pierre Strosser, respectively—presented the specific focus and priority geographical areas of each project. All agreed on the significant work of connecting the three projects to achieve their objectives.
One of the common goals is the growth of the NEBS; the Network of European Blue Schools. Evy Copejans, its General Manager, introduced this umbrella entity that champions blue education in schools. Currently, the network includes 400 schools, a number that is expected to increase thanks to the projects of the mission.
To better understand the on-the-ground experiences, the event featured testimonials from school centers in Spain (with Christian Esteva from We Are Blue Schools), Portugal (Maria Joao from Escola Azul), and Turkey, presented by Afsin himself.
The event concluded with a presentation by Vanessa-Sarah Salvo and Elisabet Bonfill, from the ProBleu coordinating team, of the collaboration declaration between the three projects. This living document will continue to be developed in the coming weeks and has the support of blue education stakeholders in Europe.
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Funded by the European Union