To teach about the ocean is to teach about the world.
School curricula differ from country to country and may change from school year to school year. In the end, it’s the teachers who make the difference when they encourage and challenge their students to address local and global challenges in school. Such teachers are agents of change, who inspire their students to be more active European citizens, help them develop 21st-century skills, and build awareness of environmental and socio-economic issues, and sustainable development challenges.
The Network of European Blue Schools aims to empower schools and teachers who are agents of change for the ocean and support them in educating the new generation of more aware, responsible, and engaged Ocean Literate citizens.
We provide a platform to exchange experiences and work collaboratively with a growing network of European colleagues and experts, as knowledge exchange and partner search are the most valued benefits for teachers who strive to bring the ocean into their classrooms.
We support schools and teachers in developing new ideas and implementing innovative ocean education such as project-based learning and open education, by giving access to resources, activities, and professional development opportunities organized by EU4Ocean Platform and Youth4Ocean members and other European institutions and projects.
We build bridges between ocean professionals and schools. European Blue Schools collaborate with ocean professionals from research institutions, environmental NGOs, and other organizations in bringing real-life topics and activities into the classroom where students can investigate and solve challenges in and with the wider society.
We promote Blue Schools' work by featuring their projects on the Maritime Forum of the European Commission, Handbook for Teachers, international conferences, and social media, as well as creating opportunities for networking and knowledge transfer.
The European Blue Schools Program aims to support teachers and schools in educating the new generation of more aware, responsible, and engaged ocean-literate citizens.
Teachers from European Blue Schools:
- are able to share experiences and work collaboratively with a growing network of European colleagues;
- have access to teacher resources, activities, and professional development opportunities organized by EU4Ocean Platform and Youth4Ocean members and other European institutions and projects;
- have their efforts recognized through the award of a certification
The EU4Ocean Coalition, supported by the European Commission, grants certificates to schools that have successfully developed BLUE PROJECTS (for criteria see…link). This acknowledgment award recognizes the achievements of the school, teachers, and students:
- The certification is of value for the school to get international visibility for their projects. The website of the Maritime Forum, aimed to improve communication amongst EU maritime policy stakeholders, showcases all projects. All certified European Blue Schools become part of the Network of European Blue Schools.
- The certification recognises teachers for their outstanding contributions and as agents of change for ocean sustainability. It can expand to using social media tools, (virtual) workshops, and meetings to feature the teachers in the network.
- And lastly, it is of value for the students, as a personal accomplishment that can spark an interest in a future blue career and can be an asset on their CV.
About the Blue School Certificate