are you ocean aware? Try the quiz here

People don't change their habits for something they can't see or don't understand. If we want to protect the ocean, its ecosystems and inhabitants, we need to empower people to act by providing them with the tools to do so. An ocean-literate person understands the importance of the ocean to humankind; can communicate about the ocean in a meaningful way; and, is able to make informed and responsible decisions regarding the ocean and its resources. When empowered with knowledge people can choose to change their own behaviour and call on others to do so too. Importantly, this needs to happen the world over, not just in coastal regions or riverine communities. Every one of us can be an ocean citizen, regardless of where we live. Our actions matter, wherever we are. 

The latest ocean literacy conference, held in Venice in 2024, closed with the adoption of the Venice declaration for Ocean Literacy in Action:

Ocean Literacy is more than understanding ocean science; it means recognizing the far-reaching consequences of our actions. By cultivating a global culture of ocean stewardship, we can facilitate a future where we thrive in harmony with the ocean. It is our collective will and responsibility to foster a more just and sustainable relationship with our vital global commons: all life on Earth depends on it. We need an ocean-literate society that advocates for policies that respect the ocean’s inherent right to exist, flourish and regenerate.

The ocean literacy movement started with the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) in the United States in the early 2000s and has since growm into a worldwide movement of marine science educators (with regional groups such as the International Pacific Marine Educators Network (IPMEN) and the European Marine Science Educators Association (EMSEA)). United States ocean educators established the following seven principles as the basis of ocean literacy: 

1. The Earth has one big ocean with many features. 

2. The ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of Earth. 

3. The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate. 

4. The ocean makes Earth habitable. 

5. The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems.

6. The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected.

7. The ocean is largely unexplored.

These core principles are supported by a series of 45 fundamental concepts, set out in this guide. Ocean literacy is an understanding of these principles and concepts, appreciating, as NMEA says, "the ocean’s influence on you - and your influence on the ocean".

On an international level, UNESCO has been working to put the ocean onto school curricula since 2015, launching its Ocean Literacy for All commitment at the first UN Ocean Conference in 2017 and aiming to promote ocean literacy worldwide at all levels, providing resources, guides and courses for policy makers, journalists, teachers, and civil society. In 2022, at the One Ocean Summit in France, UNESCO called on all States to include ocean education in their school curricula by 2025, introducing their toolkit for policy makers, for ministries of education and for teachers at all levels, A New Blue Curriculum. The toolkit provides guidance for developing and implementing an ocean curriculum and highlights examples of States already working on ocean education such as Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Kenya, Portugal and Sweden, showcasing results as well as opportunities and challenges met when seeking to include the ocean in the school curriculum.

"The international community must make education one of the pillars of its action for the ocean. Because if we want to protect it better, we must teach it better. On the occasion of the One Ocean Summit, I am setting a common objective for our 193 Member States: to include ocean education in school curricula by 2025." 

Audrey Azoulay UNESCO Director-General, at the One Ocean Summit, Brest 2022.

Ocean education should be available throughout the learning path of a child, starting with the introduction of ocean stories at primary-school level, all the way through to higher and further education. While perhaps most obviously connected to subjects like geography, chemistry or biology, the ocean should by no means be confined to them but can be addressed in every educational area, from art and design or economics to religion, from music or computer technology to story-writing. 

if you are an educator, are your school students ocean aware?

resources for educators