"EU4Ocean in action" awards: Call for nominations!

The EU4Ocean coalition, an initiative supported by the European Commission (EC), Directorate General Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE), is nearly two-year old. It is time to celebrate this milestone and the many contributions of its growing communities to Let’s make Europe Blue!

The EU4Ocean coalition is organising its "EU4Ocean in action" awardsthat will honor significant achievement in ocean literacy in Europe.

The main “EU4Ocean in action” award will honor initiatives that best translate the spirit and principles of the EU4Ocean coalition in particular initiatives that have mobilised very diverse representatives of the different communities of the coalition (three main winners chosen as navy blue, classic blue and sky blue)

It will be complemented by “Special mention” awards as:

• Best professional organisation initiative;
• Best youth initiative;
• Best education & school initiative

The winners of the awards, selected by a jury chaired by DG MARE, European Commission, accounting for the outcomes of public (online) voting, will be announced at the hybrid Ocean Literacy Summit organised by the EU4Ocean coalition at the European Maritime Day (EMD) 2022, Ravenna, 19 to 22 May 2022. Beyond giving visibility to initiatives, the awards will be accompanied by money and in-kind prizes that will bring you to the forefront of ocean literacy in Europe and beyond.

What are we looking for? Projects and initiatives that have:

• Strong social learning and critical thinking objectives
• High sustainability and replication potential
• An EU focus with clear societal and policy relevance
• A strong collective dimension and a catalytic role
• An innovative character in terms of the tool developed and/or the process established

You…

… are committed to ocean literacy?

… are a member of one of the EU4Ocean communities (the EU4Ocean platform, the Youth4Ocean Forum and the EU network of Blue Schools) - or ready to join the coalition?

… have completed or are carrying out exciting and inspiring ocean literacyprojects and initiatives for which results are already visible?

Keep an eye on the most important deadlines!

• 29 April 2022, at 17:00: Deadline for submission
• 03 May, 2022: Submitted projects presented at the EU4Ocean webpage - start of public voting
• 13 Maypublic voting ends at 17:00
• 13 May, 2022: Candidates short-listed by the jury are informed
• 20 May, 2022, from 12:00 to 12:30: Announcement of the awards at the closing session of the European Maritime Day 2022

Applications are closed! Now it is your turn to select your 6 favourite projects HERE.

CAST YOUR VOTE!

Check all the submissions below!

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EcoTELLY

EcoTELLY is an augmented reality experience allowing you to explore Kenmare Bay’s Marine Life (CO. Kerry, Ireland) through your mobile device.

Objective of the project is to watch encounters with species told as stories that are visualised on your smart device screen and through the use of video and audio. This enablls you to interact with each of the panels and find out more about the amazing coastal wildlife, seabirds, marine mammals and underwater life that swims, flies and dives under the waves of Kenmare Bay’s Special Area of Conservation.

Date: 01.03.2021 - 01.12.2022

Contact person: Vincent Hyland

Visit: https://www.ecotelly.com/ecotelly

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Our Seas

The School is a certified Blue School and took a pledge to tackle Ocean Literacy in its classes.

Pupils are expected to develop their knowledge on the ecosystems of their marine area and the biodiversity. They will also develop their critical thinking as they will need to identify problems and offer solutions. They will work in national teams and mixed teams, intercultural awareness will be tackled and included as a result of the project. Communication skills will be developed as they will participate in online meetings with their foreign partners. Pupils will use many apps and web 2.0 tools which will help them enrich their digital skills.

Date: 01.10.2021 - 30.01.2022

Contact person: Ciolpan Gabriela | Lazar Edeleanu Technological Highschool Navodari

Visit: https://live.etwinning.net/projects/project/317393

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Green&BlueLiteracy @School

Our project is aimed at high school education (linguistic, scientific, classical) in order to raise awareness on Ocean and Freshwater Literacy.

The main goal of this project is highlighting the functional and spatial continuity among rural and coastal areas and stimulate the observation abilities of the young participants. All the activities will be supervised by a reference person with a scientific and marine background and a multidisciplinary team of educators will be engaged in order to develop fieldwork, laboratory and theoretical sessions with the same purpose both at school and in properly identified areas in the nearby of the school buildings.

The students will be organized in thematic working groups according to their inclinations and interests developing thematic activities and workshops focused on the project issues, In order to achieve a better and active engagement.

Date: 22.02.2022 - 08.06.2023

Contact person: Martina Gaglioti | Campus dei Licei Ramadù

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Clean Danube Clean Black Sea

Our aim is to draw attention to pollution in The Danube River and in The Black Sea.

The Black Sea is an inland sea where water pollution is experienced to a great extent. It has been observed that the pollution problem experienced by the Black Sea is caused by the coastal countries to a great extent.

Another important factor is the Danube River, in the category of transboundary waters, which is influenced by different waterways of 19 countries in Europe and pours into the Black Sea through 10 countries.

With our project, we have worked on the pollution generated through the Danube River.

Our aim is to stop this problem with different solutions and activities and to prevent the threats for the Black Sea ecosystem.

We completed our eTwinning project and we are going for our Erasmus+ project.

Date: 01.11.2020 - 30.10.2022

Contact person: Serpil Yıldız Mahmutoğlu | Hasan Kemal Yardımcı Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi

Visit: https://cleandanubeblacksea.wixsite.com/danubeblacksea

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Ocean Explainers

Mercator Ocean International (MOi) aims to make the scientific information collected by satellites, in-situ measurements and created by ocean models available to anyone, anywhere.

To make these concepts accessible to all, MOi has launched Ocean Explainers pages, as part of the Copernicus Marine Service’s website. These pages explain how Operational Oceanography is a crucial piece in understanding the role of ocean in Earth’s ecosystem.

Students, policy maker or just curious can discover all the secrets of the ocean by browsing the Explainers pages.

Every day, the characteristics of the ocean change: The height of the waves, the water temperature, the currents that provide nutrients to keep the ecosystems healthy.

It is essential to expose the risks associated with plastic pollution, to monitor our ocean for long-term trends (such as ocean warming, acidification and sea level rise).

With the Explainers all these issues become clear. Ocean Explainers, making ocean science accessible to all!

Date: From 15.11.2021

Contact person: Veronique Landes | Mercator Ocean International

Visit: Ocean Explainers | CMEMS (copernicus.eu)

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Puroceans Deep Water Rehabilitation

PurOceans is an eco-friendly technology that performs sophisticated water bottom cleaning. It is based on the flotation principle, therefore it pumps ambient air in bubbles to the lowest depths of the waterbody, where they naturally adhere to oil, plastic, and chemical pollutants.

The key advantages are its extensive uses: the possibility to eliminate pollution from waterbody’s floor on the depth of 25 mt; a cleaning efficiency of 98% of water/floor purification; any chemical/mechanical intervention are used and does not cause adverse effects, hence flora and fauna won't be damaged.

Finally, it is easy and cheap to utilize since it lifts pure pollutants only, without sand and soil. It revolutionizes the process of pollution utilization since the lifted pure products can be sold to raw material buyers or fractionized and reused.

Our mission is to clean up waters and seabeds, restore polluted areas from oil products and micro-plastic globally and rehabilitate deep waters dead zones.

Date: From 12.04.2019

Contact person: Camilla Piovesan | PurOceans Technology

Visit: www.puroceans.com

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Ocean Routes: exploring and valuing the maritime culture of Esposende

Ocean Routes is an ambitious and comprehensive project aiming to mobilise the local school community, towards an increased awareness and protection of Esposende’s long but vanishing maritime culture, as a small coastal municipality, in Northern Portugal, and its oceanic protected area.

The project is anchored in 6 ocean literacy ‘routes’ (civilisations and history; gastronomy; biodiversity; sports; literature and music; future and sustainability).

The project is grounding its activities to key territorial characteristics and to existing curricular contents, effectively working as a facilitator between these two ‘worlds’.

It does so through a citizen science approach, by implementing on-site data collection activities, directly by all 1132 students (6-15 years old), intertwining and feeding a diversity of 12 disciplines, together with 137 professors.

Ocean Routes is promoted by a unique partnership between an Environmental NGO (lead) and the Local School Group (partner, total of 10 schools).

Date: 01.09.2021 - 31.12.2022

Contact person: Cristina Nava | Rio Neiva - Environmental NGO

Visit: www.rioneiva.com/rotas

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MuMa Museo del Mare Milazzo

MuMa Milazzo Sea Museum, located in the Castle of Milazzo, is a spiritual journey to rediscover and reignite the harmony between man and the sea through science and art.

MuMa arose from the moving and tragic story of a sperm whale, renamed "Siso", that died in the waters of the Aeolian Islands in the summer of 2017 due to an illegal fishing net.

The biologist Carmelo Isgrò recovered the bones and reconstructed the skeleton, creating a museum around the cetacean.

MuMa is not a classic museum of the sea but a place where science and art unite and blend together. Visitors become more aware of anthropogenic impacts on the Ocean through interactive educational videos, virtual reality, augmented reality and multimedia art installations. MuMa was inaugurated on August 9th, 2019, and since then it has been a popular destination for tourist and students of all ages and from all over the world. It is an ideal site for environmental education and Ocean Literacy.

Date: 09.08.2019

Contact person: Carolyn Berger | MuMa Museo del Mare Milazzo ONLUS

Visit: https://www.mumamilazzo.com/

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Small Boat=Huge Learning

In 2021 the school initiated a mini-boat project with the assistance of the Marine Institute in Ireland. We sourced a unique mini-boat from Educational Passages in the US and we initiated a cross-curricular project with STEM and Ocean Literacy at the forefront.

We worked closely with the Explorers Programme, to maximise the learning potential in terms of appreciating the Ocean and understanding it's importance to mankind.

Date: 01.04.2022 - 29.10.2022

Contact person: Peter Kane | Kilglass National School

Visit: https://youtu.be/rhhMQr-nNYo

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The Marine Ecosystem Diaries

The Marine Ecosystem Diaries was developed to support The Marine Diaries’ (TMD) mission of spreading awareness about the ocean and issues affecting it. From January to September 2021, the project highlighted 9 different marine ecosystems and discussed the importance they have for ocean life, the threats they face, and conservation efforts to protect them.

The project shed light on marine ecosystems that have high carbon storage, high biodiversity, or are less well known, in order to increase support for their protection. Through articles, social media, online events, and educational materials (posters & videos), TMD produced a positive and engaging ocean literacy initiative. All the materials were freely accessible and for use by the public, teachers, educators, and NGOs. Utilising strong visual imagery and combining science with art, the project created educational materials which could also evoke strong emotional responses - enhancing understanding and respect for the ocean.

Date: 01.01.2021 - 30.09.2021

Contact person: Rebecca Daniel | The Marine Diaries

Visit: https://www.themarinediaries.com/marine-ecosystem-diaries

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Less Plastic Waste in Burgas Municipality

Burgas is a year-round tourist destination, with increasing attention paid to sea and resourt tourism, offering cultural, spa and historical products.

The city's administration has implemented many projects related to the protection of the marine environment. They combine the efforts and expertise of different target groups and structures - including local universities, NGOs, business.

The actions and initiatives for the implementation of several projects reach the city's residents - children, fishermen, employees and experts, to achieve a basic policy, namely to stop the use of disposable plastic products and aim to reduce pollution, especially polymer pollution of terrestrial origin.

The implemented initiatives are:

• Direct clean-up of beaches and sea waters;
• Trainings and informational campaigns for the local community to reduce the use and amount of plastic waste it generates, behavioral change toward improving the separate collection of recyclable waste;
• Monitoring and research.

Date: 14.12.2020 - 14.12.2022

Contact person: Maya Ruseva | Burgas Municipality

Visit: https://cleansea-burgas.com/; https://www.greencity.bg/blue-label; https://www.gotoburgas.com/en/news/view/37/4768; https://redmarlitter.eu

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Ocean pitch challenge

Created from the alliance, in France, between Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) and RespectOcean, this challenge aims to:

• Develop and promote economically viable solutions for the protection of the oceans and its marine and coastal ecosystems;
• Preselect and train 10 finalists in the pitch technique in order to increase their skills and increase their ability to raise money for their solution with investors;
• Reward the top three candidates during a Grand final;
• Reward three additional solutions on the following themes "special prize for the preservation of marine biodiversity", "special prize for bio-inspired solutions", "special prize for early-stage solutions".

Date: 03.01.2022 - 17.05.2022

Contact person: Ben Lesage | Sustainable Ocean Alliance and RespectOcean

Visit: https://www.respectocean.com/concours-ocean-pitch-challenge-2022/

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Adopt'1 Spot (Adopt a Beach)

The Adopt'1 Spot program of the platform "Zero Déchet Sauvage" wants to act on the younger generations.

The data collected during Adopt'1 Spot pick-ups (regular pick-ups in sensitive areas with a standardized method) are recorded in this platform.

Coordinated by MerTerre and co-piloted by a dozen structures, it already federates more than 380 actors throughout France (including overseas). By centralizing data, it allows for reliable diagnosis to be made in order to support concrete action plans.

As an educational tool, Adopt'1 Spot will raise awareness among schoolchildren, introduce them to the scientific approach in the field and make them aware of their ability to protect the environment through participatory science.

This program will be offered to educational structures in and their data will feed the community space. In this way, this project want to be a common base between communities and young generations, to act together to prevent pollution and restore the environment.

Date: From 01.06.2021

Contact person: Laurine Fouquereau | Association MerTerre

Visit: https://www.zero-dechet-sauvage.org/adopt-1-spot

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The Clean Boating Initiative

The Clean Boating Movement aims at reducing the amount of plastic litter in our seas by targeting and involving the pleasure boating community and the many charter vessels around the island of Mallorca, to get involved and play a vital role in picking up and removing plastic from the sea". Our three goals are:

1. To reduce marine plastic litter from the Balearic coasts by involving the boating community,
2. To make boating and the nautical sector more environmentally sustainable,
3. To improve environmental awareness to a wider audience including the boating sector.

Date: From 09.01.2020

Contact person: Christian Esteva Burgos | Clean Boating

Visit: www.clean-boating.com

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BlueGeneration

The main objective of the BlueGeneration Project is to inspire and engage youth aged between 15 and 30 years to pursue a sustainable career in one of the Blue Economy growth sectors.

For this aim it brings together experts from the Blue Economy and youth organisations (including schools) to share knowledge about skills needs, career paths, open job positions and training possibilities.

Date: From 06.01.2018

Contact person: Silja Teege| Sea Teach

Visit: www.bluegeneration.org; www.bluegeneration.careers; www.bluegenerations.guide

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Protect the Oceans, to preserve life on Earth

We encourage the school community to understand the influence of the Ocean on us. We work in a structured, interdisciplinary and vertical way, without being restricted to the classroom context,either from the involvement of the local communities,or in the participation of different partners in the maritime sector.

We integrate multidisciplinary marine education actions in a diversified network of partners in order to create more responsible and participatory generations, and sustainability of the Ocean.

Through transversal,innovative and creative learning,we promote activities that develop students' critical spirit and initiative and encourage them to translate their knowledge into effective attitude changes in their relationship with the Ocean. We developed Goal 14 and 15 of the SDG.

The Objectives are:

• To stimulate action and intervention in the oceans theme;
• Know the fundamental principles and concepts of ocean literacy;
• Promote the protection of the Oceans to preserve life on Earth.

Date: 17.01.2019 - 31.08.2024

Contact person: Carla Goncalves| School - Básica Dr. Horácio Bento de Gouveia- Portugal - Madeira

Visit: https://escolaazul.pt/; https://www.facebook.com/escolazul; https://www.facebook.com/groups/escolaazul; https://hbg.pt/

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Once upon a time... the sea

The school where the project is underway is located inside a marine reserve.

The need to enhance the experience of children, many of the parents are fishermen, corresponds to the need to respect the sea in all its essence, its potential and its importance in our existence.the sea, its ecosystem point of equilibrium in the economy, development, environment.

Learning to know it, to respect it, to use its resources correctly without abusing it., to understand how much it is present in our daily life, are just some of the objectives that we set.

The sea as a historical memory, as a father of civilization, as a way of communication between peoples.

The project aims to stimulate awareness, knowledge, implementation of scientific skills, but also cultural, historical, sociological, with individualized courses that have as their theme the importance of living in a protected marine reserve.

Date: 01.09.2018 - 31.12.2021

Contact person: Anna Durante| I.C.Francesco Riso

Visit: https://www.facebook.com/romitaesport.romitaesport.1

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One Step Forward

The project consists of writing an open letter with European partners (Erasmus + project with Lithuania, Germany and Spain) on the state of the ocean and asking for measures to be taken.

Objective of the project is to raise awareness on climate change, becoming a European citizen, improving the English speaking as a foreign language and understanding the understand the world globally.

Date: 01.11.2021 - 31.10.2022

Contact person: Benedicte Feys| Collège de l'Europe - Ardres (F)

Visit: https://twinspace.etwinning.net/186683/home

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I live by the Sea Contest

We all live by the sea. No matter how far from the sea you live, next to the beach or far away in the mountains, we still have a great impact on it. And it is up to us whether you create a positive relationship with the sea or have adverse impact on it.

We believe that educating people about the importance and the beauty of marine environments is the key to creating positive attitudes towards the sea.

Our goal is to spread and share knowledge about marine environments and marine protection issues, as well as the exchange of information among users of different seas and marine oriented regions.

Through their participation we hope to involve youth of different natural and cultural heritage backgrounds to share their views on marine issues in a creative way.

All works submitted are reviewed by a panel of International Judges. Due to a variety of options for contestants the panel involves experts from a number of art and science areas.

Date: From 01.01.2017

Contact person: Izabela Kotynska-Zielinska| Today We Have

Visit: https://todaywehave.com/contest.html

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Study the Marine Litter dispersion: Citizen Science Application case (ML-CSA)

The Ocean’s role, as the engine of all life on this planet, is threatened by marine pollution and marine litter (ML).The aim of the project is to increase monitoring studies about the ML problem.

In detail, the objectives are to investigate the effects of marine currents, winds and river discharge on ML dispersion in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

This objective was pursued by involving students in the OL activity, directed by local Marine Scientists, engaging them in the construction of a drifter made up of a selected ML and equipped with low cost electronic devices.

In addition they will follow the drifter by tracking its journey in the sea, after its launching (which will take place on the 17th May) and eventually catching it up in case of stranding (thus involving the whole Med citizens).

This hands-on activity has challenged students as a part of a big research project, by sharing and developing different skills dealing with many subjects.

The results of the project will be presented in public events, along with their publication on the website.

Date: 18.01.2022 - 30.09.2023

Contact person: Giulia Castiglioni| IIS Capellini-Sauro

Visit: https://sites.google.com/view/seacleaner/educazione/tracciando-i-rifiuti?authuser=0

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Oceans are rising, so get informed

This school project focuses primarily on the topic of sea-level rise to inform students, teachers and parents in general about global warming.

Important questions we investigate are: how fast is sea level rising? Can we control such sea level rise?

Sufficient knowledge among the average citizen is an absolute necessity to meet the climate challenge.

Despite all the attention in the media, there is still a huge knowledge gap between climate scientists and the general public.

In our school, we want to get rid of common misunderstandings in an attractive and inspiring way. Due to the many negative reports, students and citizens give up when the word 'climate' is mentioned. However, many companies, schools and associations are fully engaged in wonderful and solution-oriented initiatives.

These projects can inspire but often remain under the radar. That is why we have next to 'get informed' 'get involved'. On the same website others can easily share and describe their climate actions.

Date: From 20.09.2020

Contact person: Koen Meirlaen|Leiepoort Deinze campus Sint-Hendrik

Visit: www.sogetinformed.com

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Cleaning the Oceans with Artificial Intelligence

We plan for students to have knowledge about Artificial Intelligence, to make applications that can be a solution to a world problem by using Artificial Intelligence, and to design a robot using recyclable materials.

Defining the activity "Cleaning the Oceans with Artificial Intelligence" with the code "cw21-WW0V0" on the Codeweek page and performing the Machine Learning activity at https://studio.code.org/s/ oceans/lessons/1

• Sharing the visuals of all the works done on the school's web page, the school's social media accounts and the twinspace page of the project
• Voting and logo selection
• Carrying out cleaning activities on the shores of streams, rivers, lakes, seas or oceans (joint work can be done with NGOs, municipalities or universities)?
• Making Blue School applications
• Robot drawings (Tinkercad)
• Application for the STEM School Label

Our students will make a simple model of the robot we drew from waste materials.

Date: 10.09.2021 - 10.05.2022

Contact person: Şükrü Güvenç Erkek| Çanakkale Erenköy Ortaokulu

Visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/228598162474440/

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Oceans

Climate change, pollution, plastics, overfishing and other threats make the ocean extremely vulnerable. We will reflect on them and talk to people who work for the protection and conservation of the ocean in different fields and learn from them.

Our aim is to learn about the ocean to raise awareness on the United Nations SDG number 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.

We are following a competency-based approach using the eTwinning platform, learning about scientific language, biological systems and scientific research.

Students will respect data veracity and value scientific knowledge, create contents using different apps and use information with a critical thinking.

They will use strategies to plan task resolution related to the ocean, participate in decision taking in a democratic way and communicate constructively.

This work will be carried out by 115 students from 4 schools in Italy and Spain,and much of the work will be done in international groups.

Date: 05.10.2021 - 09.05.2022

Contact person: Isidoro Cayuela García| Oceans project (eTwinning project by 4 schools)

Visit: https://twinspace.etwinning.net/200988/home

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Abecedarium: the Ocean in sign language

"Abecedarium" is a long-term educational and participatory project, conceived and curated by Valeria Bottalico, the accessibility programme specialist, in collaboration with ENS-Ente Nazionale Sordi ONLUS (Italian Deaf Agency) and CNR ISMAR, Institute of Marine Sciences.

The goal of the project is to create a glossary in sign language, starting from Italian sign language up to other countries and international signs, related to the marine world and the climate emergency.

Using a participatory and co-creation approach, "Abcedarium" aims at be structured as a long-term process of knowledge production and work alongside the deaf community for the enhancement and recognition of the sign language, starting from the ocean as a physical, social, linguistic, political and aesthetic connecto.

Date: From 30.10.2020

Contact person: Miriam Calabrese | TBA21–Academy

Visit: https://www.ocean-space.org/education/abecedarium-lis

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Ocean Influencers

The main objective was to take advantage of most common social network used by adolescents nowadays, TikTok, to deliver as much contents on Ocean Literacy as we could to younger generations.

The second objective was to let 16 students (age 13-25) succeed in acquire the perception on Ocean Literacy issues from the public through various methods.

The third objective was to let these students learn how to design questions, perform interviews, create video contents in response to those results, and to understand the complexity of the topics.

The fourth objective was to raise interest on Ocean Literacy in the interviewed citizens

Date: 01.09.2021 - 30.11.2021

Contact person: Milena Tempesta| DelTa NGO

Visit: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8gvhhmQ/

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Blue Researchers

EU4Ocean creates a highly dynamic network. Being an EU4Ocean school member has made us more active, more motivated and more inspired.

It opened new learning paths and facilitated cooperation with authorities, organisations, other schools and other countries.

It expanded the limits of our mind, changed our mentality and improved our connection to the enviroment and to our planet!

We shared with them same our concerns for the environment and suceeded to turn our ideas into action! Every action is hope..because together we can achieve more!

Date: 15.09.2021 - 15.06.2022

Contact person: Marina Mathiantoni

Visit: http://dim-n-evmoir.xan.sch.gr/?cat=43

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Learn with fishermen: Educational activities to know the places and resources of our sea, valleys and lagoons

The project has foreseen the realization of innovative educational courses, it was specifically created for the schools of the FLAG (Fisheries Local Action Group), and aimed to promote knowledge of the biodiversity of our fishing sites and to disseminate the culture of healthy eating through the knowledge of the variety of fish products in the Emilia-Romagna coast.

The activities have foreseen the involvement of fishermen and of economic operators and actors related to fishing and aquaculture sector.

The project had the general objective of promoting healthy eating culture through the knowledge of the world of fish, molluscs and crustaceans, from the sea to the table. This can be achieved by discovering their origin, properties and importance in healthy eating, as well as promoting knowledge on the rich biodiversity of our sea and of the valleys and lagoons.

The goal is to influence responsible behavior of citizens, tourists and especially young people.

Project's full title: The blue gold of the Adriatic: EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR SCHOOLS ", realized with the EMFF 2014-2020 fund - Action 4.A "Information and training" - Local Action Plan FLAG COSTA DELL'EMILIA-ROMAGNA – FLAG EMILIA ROMAGNA COAST.

Date: 01.04.2018 - 30.06.2019

Contact person: Angela Nazzaruolo| Flag Costa dell'Emilia Romagna - DELTA 2000

Visit: https://www.flag-costaemiliaromagna.it/progetti/impariamo-con-i-pescatori/ 

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STEAM down the River

The Blue School project has been run as the main theme for the STEAM classes students attend across two campuses of the St Louis Middle school sites.

Using a project-based approach the project aims to enhance learning opportunities that allow students to hypothesise, explore, and develop opportunities to come up with solutions that affect their 'real-world.'

This project has been designed to address the gaps that exist in areas of conservation education, a better understanding for more sustainable food production (including aquaculture) and addressing the immediate needs to the increased pollution that is affecting not only life out at sea, but also on land where a lot of the problems arise.

Date: 11.01.2021 - 24.06.2022

Contact person: Pamela Ernstberger| St Louis School, Milano

Visit: www.edinaqua.org; https://sites.google.com/stlouisschoolapps.com/steamdowntheriver2021-22…

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Blue Horizon

Blue Horizon is a web radio show produced at POLI.RADIO, the non-profit cultural association managing the radio station of the Polytechnic University of Milan.

Blue Horizon acts within the Ocean Literacy context and the main goals of the initiative are :

• Raising awareness of topics and challenges related to the ocean and Blue Economy,
• Reducing the distance between the general public and the experts,
• Presenting key best practices through interviews to professionals.

Every episode is focused on a specific topic, that is explained by sharing different point of views of the four main stakeholder groups. The show lasts 1 hour and has four sections:

• Policy & Institution, the interviewee is a policy maker;
• Business & Innovation, the interviewee is a company or a startup;
• Science & Research, the interviewee is a researcher of the Academia or Industry sector;
• Community & Adventure, the interviewee is a citizen involved in activities related to the ocean (e.g. art, sport, travels, etc.).

Date: From 19.10.2021

Contact person: Alessandro Gibertini| POLI.RADIO

Visit: https://www.poliradio.it/news/show/60/blue-horizon

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Healthy and clean seas without plastics

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental problems of our age, it threatens all living beings in the seas.

This project aims to raise awareness about the impacts of plastic pollution, to understand the causes of this problem and to develop (or, at least, to discuss) possible solutions.

• To improve the understanding of the ocean, raise awareness and drives issue of marine litter and plastic pollution.
• To involve students in the study of plastic pollution in the Baltic Sea and to find solutions, starting with their living environment.
• To familiarize students with different kinds of bioplastic.
• To develop the school curricula by performing interdisciplinary activities focused on promoting interdisciplinary teaching and give students a chance to discuss the concept of science about ocean pollution through the prism of three chosen role models.
• Learn about different kinds of careers with STEAM (IT) online sessions with scientists

Date: 02.11.2021 - 30.11.2022

Contact person: Irena Ribinskiene| Alytus Jotvingiai gymnasium

Visit: http://steam.jotvingiugimnazija.lt/http://steam.jotvingiugimnazija.lt/?p=2730http://steam.jotvingiugimnazija.lt/?p=2548http://steam.jotvingiugimnazija.lt/?cat=8

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Healthy fish in clean seas, healthy people and green economy

Our school organized a blue school project about food from the ocean.

The general goal of this project was for the students to obtain knowledge of the food we take of the sea near home, of the ways of fishing viability and cooking and to keep or raise awareness in interesting of healthy sea in order to have healthy food. The specific objectives for the students of this project were:

1. To explore and be familiar with the food they take from the sea which is near of them.
2. To have a contact with the nature of the local area they live.
3. To get to know about jobs in the sea environment and how the life of the workers depends from the sea
4. To learn how the fishers fish, taking into account the protection of the nature.
5. To come in contact with the difficulties of these jobs.
6. To learn about the ways of fish cooking.

Date: 15.04.2021 - 13.05.2021

Contact person: Eftychia Konstantinidou| Gymnasium of Anthousa

Visit: https://padlet.com/koneftixia/q0nlvz7hszdohjgl

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Journey into the mysterious world of aquatic wildlife

"LIFE BELOW WATER" is the Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Goal 14 or SDG 14) and is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording is "Conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”. Goal 14 has ten targets to be reached by 2030 and progress towards each target is measured by one indicator.

Through this project, we want to draw attention to the behavior and decisions that humans make and have a negative impact on the environment and our health in the long run.

The project activities are:

• AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
• CURIOSITIES ABOUT AQUATIC WILDLIFAQUATIC WILDLIFE IN DRAWINGS
• IF I WERE A MARINE ANIMAL I WOULD LIKE TO BE, BECAUSE ...
• MESSAGES FOR AQUATIC WILDLIFE
• POLLUTION OF AQUATIC WILDLIFE IN PHOTOS
• CAUSES OF AQUATIC WILDLIFE POLLUTION
• MY PLAN OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FOR AQUATIC WILDLIFE

Date: 20.02.2022 - 10.06.2022

Contact person: LĂCRIMIOARA SĂBĂREANU| GEORGE CĂLINESCU” SECONDARY SCHOOL, ONEȘTI

Visit: https://wke.lt/w/s/J9nN1S

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Coastal Code for the Bay of Santander

Our initiative consists in the development of a coastal code for the Bay of Santander, a code of good practices for citizens and the different actors in the bay, so that they can have a guide on how to approach, use and enjoy the coastline and coastal sheets of water.

Objectives:

• Preserving the bay, a natural area in which a diversity of economic and citizen activities coexists and that faces many menaces.
• The elaboration of a simple code of good practices for the users of the bay to bring us closer to the success of the challenge of the conciliation of three concepts: respect, protect and enjoy the bay.
• The development of the code itself as a set of good practices for users, easy and accessible for everyone - Communicating the code to the main users of the bay, local schools and companies located around it
• The introduction of the code so that all bay users embrace it as the way of accessing the bay
• The instauration of a way to measure and continuously improve the code

Date: 16.11.2021 - 27.09.2023

Contact person: Gabriela Mayans Vennemann| AE NAVIGATIO

Visit: https://www.bahiadesantander-codigo.com/

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L'Oceà a Casa (The ocean at home)

The initiative hereby presented emerged during the Covid-19 lockdown in Spain. This was a difficult situation to deal with, especially in homes with children because they were not allowed to leave home for several weeks.

Aware of the difficulties associated with this situation for children but also for their families, the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) wanted to provide a free space for let these children and families to join an adventure using their imagination: a journey discovering the secrets hidden in the ocean, from discovering what the sand really is till discover curiosities about sea biodiversity or polar regions.

L'Oceà a Casa (The Ocean at home) is a daily blog that contains resources and explanations about different aspects of the ocean. The daily topics covered the 7 principles of the Ocean Literacy framework.

The main objectives were to provide educational and recreational resources in different formats to entertain and educate the little ones at home. Also during the experience data was collected for better understand ocean literacy challenges.

Date: From 27.03.2020

Contact person: Janire Salazar | Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC)

Visit:http://icmdivulga.icm.csic.es/ocea-casa/?lang=ca

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Seafishient

Sustainable fish consumption was the theme chosen for the Seafishient project, with the aim of contributing to changing attitudes and behaviours in search of more solidary, socially fairer and more environmentally sustainable consumption patterns.

We want this project to change the way consumers consume fish, that is, when buying or consuming at the restaurant, they think it is necessary to recover fish units under pressure and we need to think about the sustainability of our ocean Researchers are increasingly alerting to the need to guarantee the sustainability of marine ecosystems, to the management of fish stocks and to the concern about how we continue to feed ourselves with fish without conditioning future generations.

This project also intends to promote the consumption of Aquaculture, Algae and canned fish that are healthy and smart choices for fish consumption.

The activities include photo exhibition, field trips and workshops, Blue week organisation, creation of a "cook book" etc.

Date: 17.09.2021 - 08.06.2022

Contact person: Maria Manuela Valentim| Agrupamento de Escolas Dr. Alberto Iria

Visit: https://sites.google.com/agrupalbertoiria.edu.pt/seafishientaeuropeanbl…

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If Oceans Could Speak Podcast

If the Ocean had a voice, what would it say to you? If Oceans Could Speak (IOCS) is a new podcast from the EU4Ocean platform that puts this question to those working and living side by side with the ocean.

The first series focuses on the mighty Arctic Ocean, and explores stories of the Arctic’s value and vulnerability, as told through individual perspectives. IOCS shares diverse voices and often those left out of the discussion, to raise awareness of ocean change, and foster a collective connection to the blue planet.

Each week conversations explore a different perspective of the Arctic Ocean, from the adventures of Thomas Wunderlich, Captain of the ‘Polarstern’, to the musical journey of award-winning composer Lera Aurbach.

By viewing ocean change through this human lens, IOCS aims to (1) raise awareness for, and inspire positive action towards ocean and environmental stewardship, (2) to inspire and develop ocean literacy, by highlighting perspectives that ignite a spark in others.

Date: From 25.09.2020

Contact person: Arne Riedel

Visit: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1859658

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Microplastic in Black Sea waters

The issue of plastic waste is a topic that has been intensively researched and studied lately and is the subject of concern of international organizations and government, which are trying to develop legislation to limit their impact on natural ecosystems and human health.

Recently, the focus on waste management has been on microplastics - a very little researched field to date. That is why we set out to study the problem of microplastics in the waters of the Black Sea and in coastal ecosystems, but at the same time to try to identify solutions to meet the need for plastics with different uses.

The objectives of our initiative are:

• Identification of microplastic pollution sources in the Black Sea area
• Performing a working procedure for determining the microplastic content
• Proposing an alternative method of producing a material with properties similar to plastics

Date: 01.11.2019 - 27.07.2023

Contact person: Carmen Bucovala| Ovidius Highschool

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Crowd-Science for the Med Sea – how crowdfunding can enable small-scale research projects and empower citizens

Crowd-Science for the Med Sea is a cross-sectoral experiment of applying the learnings from crowdfunding to the science world aiming not only to gain an innovative tool for science communication but to empower scientists as well as citizens – starting in Sicily and the Mediterranean sea.

The project invites scientists to propose their research project to citizens through a crowdfunding campaign. Backers not only co-decide on what science research should be funded, but get first hand science results and attractive perks connected with the Mediterranean like 3D-printed turtles made from recycled bottles or even spending three nights on board of the research vessel.

Objectives:

• Increase ocean literacy through a collective experience of backers through a co-decision making process
• Enable small scale research projects dedicated to the sea - Experiment with innovative tools and processes for ocean literacy
• Create a pilot for a replicable and scalable process of marine science activities

Date: 01.05.2021 - 01.10.2022

Contact person: Manuel Marinelli| Project Manaia

Visit: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/crowd-science-for-the-med-sea--2#/

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Escola Azul - Blue School

Escola Azul is an educational programme on Ocean Literacy, implemented in Portugal. The main goal is to engage schools to create ocean-literate generations that are able to convert ocean knowledge into emotional bonding, critical thinking, decision-making and effective action towards the solution of the most important ocean issues of our time.

More than a programme, Escola Azul has become an Ocean Literacy community. We gather students, teachers, families, municipalities, and partner entities coming from different sectors: research, industry, NGO’s, museums… We include students from coastal regions, with clear connections with the sea, and schools from the inland, for whom the Ocean, while far-away, is learned as an essential element for human life.

Escola Azul can also be framed as a citizenship programme, as the respect for the Ocean and what it provides us is not only framed as an end but also as a means to achieve significant values that define responsible and active citizens.

Date: From 20.02.2018

Contact person: Bernardo Mata

Visit: https://escolaazul.pt/

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Projeto 19 - How to get teenagers to communicate about marine sciences

Projeto P19 combines ocean literacy, science education and science communication by inviting high-school students to convert ocean research papers into outreach activities and artistic performances.
The students decide what is more relevant and what are the best means and channels to convey the key messages to their generation.
The formats vary from TV news reports, social media campaigns, videos, stock motion animations, field trips, stakeholders’ meetings, theatre plays, songs, poems, dance, street art, among many others.
P19 aims to promote the search and use of reliable, up-to-date scientific information by teenagers to increase their knowledge on the ocean and its role on the planet dynamics and life. 
A small contribution to the construction of a bluer society that better understands the impact that the sea has on humankind and vice-versa.
Projeto 19 therefore also aims to help eradicate fake news, negationism and misinformation, empowering the leaders of tomorrow.

Date: 01.10.2021 - 01.04.2022

Contact person: Tiago Garcia| +ATLANTIC CoLAB

Visit: https://projeto19.colabatlantic.com/

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We Are On The Same Boat

Objective: Study, preserve and support the biodiversity in local water ecosystems and promote good management of local blue infrastructure through four direct actions:

1. Protect water and sea bird population during their inland nesting season,
2. Protect amphibians during their migration and mating period,
3. Collect and share data about nesting birds and migrating amphibians,
4. Promote the necessity of hard measures such as toad tunnels and artificial nesting islands in front local stakeholders.

The initiative activities included:

1. Off-season nesting island maintenance,
2. Toad taxi service to migrating amphibians,
3. Bird-watching, data collection and sharing via e-bird, counting amphibians during migration and monitoring frogspawn,
4. Organising seminars, lectures and education events on water birds and amphibians, sharing the collected data with local authorities and stakeholders.

Date: 01.06.2021 - 30.04.2022

Contact person: Ondrej Odokienko| Senica Primary and Junior Secondary School No.1

Visit: https://zs1senica.edupage.org/a/we-are-on-the-same-boat

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Healthy and Clean Seas without plastics

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental problems of our age, it threatens all living beings in the seas.

This project aims to raise awareness about the impacts of plastic pollution, to understand the causes of this problem and to develop (or, at least, to discuss) possible solutions.

This project aims to raise students awareness about environment and develop activities related to STEAM careers.

In addition, contributions will be made to the development of 21st-century skills such as participation in discussions, taking responsibility, communicating, collaborative work, using digital tools consciously and effectively, cultural understanding and foreign language proficiency.

Date: 05.11.2021 - 05.11.2022

Contact person: Antonietta Amore| Liceo Linguistico "Ilaria Alpi" di Cesena

Visit: https://www.liceoalpi.edu.it/pagina.asp?id=1483

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Blue Schools Med

The BlueS_Med was officially launched in January 2021, and is joining together 10 partners from four Mediterranean countries: France, Italy, Greece and Malta! 14 schools will also embark on this journey to develop marine educational activities, also referred to as “Blue Challenges”. These schools cover various age groups, from elementary, to middle and secondary levels. The project partners, school teachers and pupils will co-create projects to inspire action for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea, alongside local stakeholders.

Date: 01.09.2020 - 01.09.2023

Contact person: Vera Noon| Acteon (Coordinator of the BlueSchoolsMed consortium)

Visit: https://www.blueschoolsmed.eu/

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MonitorMyOcean

Commercial shipping is a major source of underwater ocean noise. It overlaps with frequencies marine mammals use to communicate leading to collision with ships. MonitorMyOcean.com measures underwater anthropogenic noise levels to create "Quieter Oceans".The project started in 2021 and is ongoing. There are 2 goals of my project. First, to monitor if "Quiet Ocean" policies and regulations are effective in reducing ocean noise. For instance the impact of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive or monitoring impact of Canada's Ocean Noise Strategy coming up in late 2022. Second, to standardize the process of collecting, analyzing, and projecting ocean noise data to enable time-series and inter-location comparison of ocean noise data. As ocean noise does not respect national borders, a common procedure to measure ocean noise will enable better monitoring leading to a greater impact on reducing acoustic noise pollutants. The target audience of this project are policymakers, media, and youths as all of them have the power to enable change in society.

Date: 2021 - ongoing

Contact person: Artash Nat

Visit: https://www.monitormyocean.com/

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Venice Climate Change Pavilion

Venice Climate Change Pavilion is a project which shows climate change data in the Venetian lagoon through AR digital sculptures. The aim is to raise awareness about the fragility of the ecosystem, the pollution levels of air and water and the losses in terms of heritage that climate change will cause. The digital matter of the project is working at the intersection of ART, RESEARCH, CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENCE ,DATA, ARCHITECTURE, and TACTICAL URBANISM.“Using the Genius Loci of the data of the city as a methodology”, means that the citizens can see the data layer of the city through digital architectures which are innovative awareness tools. The pedagogy of beauty is a fundamental tool for the people to start seeing and understanding that they are part of the city’s ecosystem as citizens and as human beings, raising the sense of care and belonging, the fundamentals of future policies for sustainable cities. The pilot project which started in May 2021 and, with 180 QR Codes distributed in the city reached more that 1800 people in less than 5 days. It started from Venice, as an experimental and complex lab of fragility. The entire city is our pavilion where we live everyday as citizens and human beings, as part of the Lagoon’s ecosystem. That’s why 3 prototypes are available everywhere anytime with horizontal access. Because you feel you belong there, you are part of the genius loci. And the beauty of the place becomes part of you.

Date: May 2021 - ongoing

Contact person: Letizia Artioli

Visit:https://veniceclimatechangepavilion.cargo.site/3-Prototypes-One-City

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Refill Cyprus

The beautiful island of Cyprus, and the clear waters of the once pristine Mediterranean, are being needlessly polluted by human waste and especially plastic, which once in the sea, breaks down into tiny particles which can never be recovered. One component of all this waste is single-use plastic bottles. We are living in an age where one million plastic bottles are used every minute all around the globe – and this number is only rising. As yet there are almost no “refill and reuse” options available in Cyprus, until now. As the problem of plastic pollution needs to be tackled at the source, by reducing consumption, therefore, we've launched Refill Cyprus – a behaviour change campaign created to help people reduce plastic pollution by making it easier to reuse and refill their bottles with everyday essentials – from free filtered drinking water to body care and cleaning products. This exciting new project began with the installation of our very first Water Refill Station in Cyprus, which has been placed on the Yermasoyia seafront. Just 5 months after installation, approximately 6,000 plastic bottles have been saved just from this one refill station, and we are planning to expand the project across the entire island. The second phase of the Refill Cyprus campaign is to revolutionize the way we shop for everyday essentials such as cleaning and body care products.

Date: October 2021 - ongoing

Contact person: Eleni Kazelas | Let's make Cyprus Green

Visit:https://www.letsmakecyprusgreen.com/water-refill-stations/

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Revolution is in the Hair

The project is about collecting hair waste and animal fur to transform those fibres into valuable cleaning tools. 1kg of hair/fur can absorb until 8 litres of oil (source NASA) We work with hairdressers and also with refuge and vets. They collect their waste and bring them to our local antenna. There, together with volunteers, we use a low tech machine designed by Matter of Trust, a pioneer NGO involved in water and soil cleaning thanks to those organic filters. We started during the Mauritius oil spills in august 2020. We realized that there was a real will from the local population to get involved and at the same time that tons of hair were thrown away each year even if they could be used as a resource to help clean our water and soil resources. That's why we decide to work on a project in our native city: Strasbourg.

Date: August 2020 - ongoing

Contact person: Lola Ott | Octop'us

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Citizens of the ocean world

The teaching of sustainable development is stipulated in the curricula of the European Schools. The school community (students, teachers, assistants, managers, and parents) is committed to the subject of the oceans. 2 questions are at the origin of this awareness and action project: Do you know why the ocean is so important in our lives? Can we protect it, even when we live 100 km from the sea like in Brussels? How? One site of our school joined the network of European blue schools last academic year, with an initial awareness project on the Berkendael site. This year, the 2 sites of our school are betting on raising awareness among the majority of students, regardless of their age or language section! But also betting on including families !

Date: March 2022 - June 2022

Contact person: Mathieu Girot | Ecole Européenne Bruxelles

Visit:https://www.eeb1.com/fr-citizens-of-the-ocean-world/