Philippines

Date: February 2023

Progress: Complete

Ocean literacy is defined as “an understanding of the ocean’s influence on you and your influence on the ocean”. An ocean literate person is able to understand the importance of the ocean for humankind, is able to communicate about the ocean in a meaningfully way, and has a more responsible and informed behaviour towards the ocean and its resources. UNESCO

The Project

There has been a need to provide centralised Australian marine science resources for all age groups with current materials being unsystematic and outdated. This is magnified in the cooler temperate southern shores of Australia where these resources are basically non-existent and teachers are forced into using content developed for the more well-funded tropical reefs.

To fill this need, OceansIQ together with the Unico Conservation Foundation undertook an ocean literacy benchmarking project to

1. Review existing ocean literacy resources and frameworks with the support of Ocean Literacy experts and key stakeholders;
2. Measure and establish a benchmark for understanding and degree of ocean literacy by educators
3. Identify existing resources, gaps and opportunities;
4. Provide a focus for the future development of localised ocean literary resources for temperate marine environments; and
5. Identify barriers as well as remedial actions required to support sustained and contemporary delivery of ocean literacy into the future.

The study provided an opportunity to leverage the expertise of a network of marine educators and resources within the state with the provisional idea of establishing a state-wide user-friendly compendium. This public resource would provide an improved forward pathway towards improving a comprehensive marine education approach into the future with an expectation that better understanding can lead to attitude and behavioural change as a lead in to positive action.

The Results

The State of Victoria has a proud history of supporting marine education efforts. Driven by passionate volunteers this was where the Marine Education Society of Australasia (MESA) and the Australian Association for Environmental Education (AAEE) were founded. However, according to Gough A, (2017), one key unaddressed issue is the fact ocean themes are still almost entirely absent from the Australian National Curriculum.

This underlines why OceansIQ and the Unico Conservation Foundation, with the support of Deakin University and key stakeholders, conducted a Victorian Ocean Literacy Survey. Targeted at marine educators across a diverse range of sectors it was designed to establish a benchmark for ocean literacy, identifying barriers to its adoption and actions that need to be taken to support its sustained and contemporary delivery into the future. The survey will become a tool to lever change.

The survey results revealed one other key element contributing to the absence of ocean themes in Australian schools, the fact that most Australian educators lack the time, training and expertise in marine education topics. Many feel ill-equipped to include ocean themes in their teaching schedules. Where it does exist in Australia, marine education is marginalised, localised and often idiosyncratic. More critically, there is still no clear consensus on what is important to include in the classroom. A systematic consensus derived approach to marine education has yet to be adopted in this nation.

This is magnified by the fact that marine education isn’t funded or prioritised in Victoria, particularly compared to well funded and publicised tropical environments climates, even though they are arguably just as valuable if not more so. As a result, despite being in an age of increasing environmental awareness, the Australian public, especially along the cooler southern shores are still largely unaware of the importance of the ocean in their lives and the impact that their lives have on the ocean.

In 2004 a collective of USA-based marine educators and marine scientists addressed similar issues in their nation by developing the concept of ocean literacy. This concept does offer a systematic, consensus derived and inclusive approach to marine education that has now been adopted around the globe. Because it is also highly appropriate across Australia, the role of ocean literacy in this nation is the foundation underwriting the development of this OceansIQ survey.

It is noteworthy that the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021 to 2030) has commenced. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (IOC-UNESCO) has taken the lead in developing UN Ocean Decade education programs that have been based on a combination of ocean literacy and the UN Sustainable Development Goal SDG 14. The reports produced by IOC-UNESCO have set clear targets regarding the adoption of ocean literacy for member nations such as Australia.

Given that Australia has been a leader on the international marine education scene, it is well placed to address the challenge of meeting the IOC-UNESCO ocean literacy in the UN Ocean Decade targets. The results of this survey clearly support this and can be used to build educational capacity. It is an opportunity for Victoria to lead the way for ocean literacy and develop a model that can be rolled out nationally. The report identified a number of recommendations and a clear path forward to achieve this which included:

• Development of a Victorian Ocean Literacy Reference Group.
• Provision of contemporary, scientifically robust and locally relevant curriculum aligned resources that embed the ocean literacy principles and also provide important background information for educators.
• Engagement and collaboration with Indigenous and non-English speaking communities.
• Pre-service and professional development programs to empower and give educators the confidence to teach ocean literacy across the curriculum.
• Creation of an Ocean Literacy Portal – a ‘one stop shop’ for ocean literacy with a range of interactive communication features including a compendium of resources.
• Promotion of Victorian education providers across the full spectrum of formal and informal delivery.
• Adoption of the more globally accepted and encompassing terminology ‘ocean literacy’.
• Acknowledge and set in place emerging terminology including Australia’s “Great Southern Reef”, highlighted and equitably emphasised in the south as the Great Barrier Reef is in the north.
• Nurturing and working with national and international projects and partners, utilising their expertise, e.g.,
• International Pacific Marine Educators Network (IPMEN) to develop relevant scope and sequence guidelines that can be adopted in Victoria and, more generally in Australia.

A crucial factor in ensuring the success of any ocean literacy effort is to secure long-term program funding. It is no longer viable to rely on the volunteer efforts of passionate educators. A program of this magnitude needs to be well funded and include a Program Manager to facilitate ocean literacy efforts, guide the direction of efforts and support educators to build capacity and make change happen. A mixture of State Government and philanthropic investment is required to ensure not only the program’s relevance, longevity and success but also as a meaningful step towards a healthy ocean and sustainable human health into the future.

Read the full report here

The Organisation

Oceans IQ

OceansIQ is a not-for-profit that is building a comprehensive online marine education portal dedicated to telling the Ocean’s stories. OIQ aims to create the ability for end users globally to access and visually explore the world’s oceans and to learn about marine animals, plants, habitats, management issues and research through their website, YouTube Channel and other social media channels. They’re an experienced team of scientists and communicators who are also behind the BBC driven series – The Great Barrier Reef.

Find out more here: oceansiq.org.au

Project Partners