The Call for Applications for the Summer School on Ocean Literacy & Collaboration on Nature-Based Solutions for the Baltic and North Seas is now open! 

Apply here

The deadline for applications is 30 April 2024, and successful candidates will be notified by 15 May 2024 (if you haven't received any email check your spam box before contacting).

The EU4Ocean Summer School on Ocean Literacy & Collaboration is a 5-day event (1-5 July 2024) in the city of Malmö (Sweden) dedicated to thinking about how to better collaborate on ocean-related projects and apply this knowledge to advance a sustainable blue economy in a coastal city. 

The Summer School on Ocean Literacy & Collaboration is a project developed by IOC/UNESCO under the EU4Ocean framework and in the context of the UN Ocean Decade (2021-2030), in collaboration with the City of Malmö, the Malmö Marine Education Center and the World Maritime University.

Learning Outcomes

The Summer School supports the following learning outcomes:

• How to effectively collaborate on the development of ocean-related projects 
• How to improve communication and storytelling in transdisciplinary and multicultural environments
• How to collaborate and advance ocean literacy for nature-based solutions in the Baltic and North Seas
• How to deal with local hot-topics and how to engage with local institutions and stakeholders
• To become familiar with the objectives and actions of the EU4Ocean Coalition and Youth4Ocean Forum and scale up their efforts, under the framework of the UN Ocean Decade 

The Summer School will share an online self-paced module prior to the activities that will be held in presence in Malmö.

The in-presence programme will host different international guests and speakers to address the following topics at local and regional level: empathy for collaboration, impact measurement, ocean policy and governance, stakeholders and community engagement, nature-based solutions, communication, advocacy and storytelling.

All the activities will be held in English.


The EU4Ocean Summer School will gather twenty youths from EU and non-EU countries of the Baltic and North Sea region who are students enrolled in Masters and PhD Programmes, or early career professionals. No matter your background, we welcome people coming from all the sectors but with a shared passion for the ocean.

Selection process

Participants will be selected according to the following criteria:

• Gender balance
• Geographical representation
• Age range: up to 35 years old
• Background: all the sectors are encouraged to apply. We will pay attention to create an interdisciplinary group.
• Priority will be given to youth from the Baltic Sea and North Sea, as well as members of the Youth4Ocean Forum and ECOPs

Accommodation in shared rooms, lunches and a social dinner will be provided for all the participants. 
In addition, IOC/UNESCO will provide 5 grants that will cover the cost of the transport tickets (round trip).