The ocean supports life on Earth by producing oxygen, regulating the climate, supporting biodiversity, and providing food. However, human activities like overfishing and pollution pose a major threat to marine ecosystems. To address this, the UN declared 2021–2030 the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, urging to “Restore humanity’s relationship with the ocean” through improved Ocean Literacy (OL).
OL helps people understand the ocean’s importance and encourages responsible behaviors to protect it. Despite its importance, OL remains low, especially among younger people. Education is the key to reversing this trend.
The University of Zadar (UNIZD) has led multiple initiatives focused on OL in the Mediterranean, including Erasmus+ and HORIZON BlueLightS projects. These efforts have produced important educational resources and engaged students, teachers, and the public in marine education.
The HORIZON BlueLightS project aims to foster blue education across Europe by building a centralized knowledge hub, a blue education platform, and a network of European Blue Schools. It also seeks to ease the integration of marine topics into curricula. In Croatia, UNIZD and national education agencies are also initiating local actions to strengthen marine education and align with EU initiatives like the European Green Deal and Sustainable Blue Economy.
Learn more about UNIZD initiatives
BlueLightS: https://blue-lights.eu/
BlueMinds4Teachers: https://www.emseanet.eu/node/546
Fins into the water: https://www.emseanet.eu/fins-water-library
