Entitled the MakeEUBlue awards, the contest will raise the profile of ocean literacy in Europe and of the EU4Ocean coalition, celebrating progress in the field of ocean literacy carried out by the members of its (three) communities.
The 2025 edition of the contest is dedicated to rewarding ocean literacy projects in progress or completed in Europe in 2024.
This webpage presents the main purpose of the contest and awards, eligibility and selection criteria, the proposed categories and prizes, the process towards the distribution of the awards and relevant communication actions surrounding the contest.
The “MakeEUBlue” awards: what for?
The main objectives of the MakeEUBlue awards are:
- To give visibility to innovative and outstanding projects and initiatives in ocean literacy in Europe – so these can be sources of inspiration for future initiatives in Europe and beyond;
- To support innovation in the field of ocean literacy in terms of the types of actions implemented, partnerships, mechanisms for capturing “impacts” and the initiatives’ added value;
- To recognise youth achievements in particular, as well as motivation and activism favouring ocean sustainability.
Find out more about 2024 inspiring winning projects and how they brought innovative ideas in the field of ocean literacy.
Eligibility and selection criteria
Eligibility criteria:
- EU4Ocean’s MakeEUBlue awards are accessible for both individuals and organisations;
- Only projects completed in 2024 or ongoing projects and initiatives for which results are already visible, are able to compete;
- Priority will be given to the members of the different EU4Ocean communities (the EU4Ocean platform, the Youth4Ocean Forum and the EU network of Blue Schools), or initiatives where at least one individual or organisation is registered or applied to be a member of one of these communities. Projects whose organising institution/individual has applied to join EU4Ocean will also be considered.
In line with the EU4Ocean coalition’s philosophy, the award recognises the long-term value of ocean literacy initiatives that have:
- A social and collective learning– the project relies on a co-construction process associating different organisations and individuals with complementary roles and expertise for increasing impact on audience from different sectors, countries and regions
- High sustainability and replicable potential, so as to reach larger stakeholder groups by establishing means to facilitating its replicability in other contexts and on a long-term.
- An innovative character – in terms of audience, the vehicle or tool developed to enhance ocean literacy, the process and methodology established to develop it
- Impacts and engagement on ocean literacy - the project worked on the relevance of the audience reached, not in terms of numbers, but on the public needing access to ocean literacy including non-ocean related fields (art, science, schools) and vulnerable groups.
The categories of the ‘MakeEUBlue’ awards
Different award categories are given as a result of the “MakeEUBlue” contest.
The three general awards include navy blue (1st prize, 2500€), classic blue (2nd prize, 2000€) and sky blue (3rd prize, 1500€) recognising the best initiatives responding to the EU4Ocean coalition principles.
These are complemented by a “special mention” (2000€) to reward a project that has been conducted on the topic of the Challenge of the Year 2024 “Be a blue citizen: ocean, citizenship and democracy” aiming at connecting the responsibility and action-oriented component of ocean literacy with citizens’ roles and responsibilities within the democratic process, which delivers the policy and regulatory framework the ocean requires to deliver a healthy, resilient and sustainable ocean.
The winners will receive their prizes at a dedicated award ceremony (organised at the European Maritime Day of the given year – see annex I) and their prizes include:
- An official award certificate;
- A hand-made ocean themed trophy;
- A financial reward.
The timeline of the ‘MakeEUBlue!’ awards: from launching to celebration
- Results will be officially announced at the European Maritime Day (EMD) in Cork, Ireland on the 23, May 2025.
The contest will be launched on the 10th of February 2025 and applications will close on the 14th of March 2025.
10 February 2025: Launching the awards' application process
The call for initiatives for the award is launched on the Maritime Forum web page.
Organisations and individuals that would like to submit ocean literacy projects and initiatives can submit their applications via > this submission form <
14 March 2025: Deadline for submission
Note that candidates apply for the EU4Ocean award in general, and not for individual “special mentions”. The members of the jury will decide on winners within each of the predefined categories and “special mention”. As these are submitted, registrations are reviewed by the EU4Ocean consortium for ensuring relevance and completeness;
March-April: review of applications
The jury members - consisting of the EU4Ocean Secretariat and Advisory Board – scrutinise the different candidates and make their final selection of winners for the different categories.
End of April: winners informed
The final winners in the different award categories are selected by the jury. Winners are informed of the results so that they can attend EMD and receive their awards.
- Celebrating at EMD: Award ceremony of the MakeEUBlue contest at EMD in Cork on the 23rd of May. Winners are invited to attend the ceremony.