Making ocean literacy inclusive and accessible

Abstract

Engagement in marine science has historically been the privilege of a small number of people with access to higher education, specialised equipment and research funding. Such constraints have often limited public engagement and may have slowed the uptake of ocean science into environmental policy. Recognition of this disconnect has spurred a growing movement to promote ocean literacy, defined as one’s individual understanding of how the ocean affects people and how people affect the ocean. Over the last 2 decades, this concept has gained significant traction in marine biology and environmental education circles and now plays a prominent role in the UN’s Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). Here, we argue that the ocean literacy agenda has largely been shaped and discussed by marine scientists and educators but needs to be expanded to a much larger constituency to be more effective, accessible and inclusive. We discuss diverse cultural settings from around the world and provide examples of indigenous, spiritual, art, ocean user and other groups that are already deeply engaged with the ocean and could provide a variety of perspectives to enrich the ocean literacy concept beyond an understanding of marine science. We suggest that such inclusiveness could remove the historic barriers that have surrounded the field, transform our collective awareness of and relationship with the ocean and help support ongoing efforts to restore marine biodiversity.

Enhancing marine citizenship as a strategy to promote the reduction of single-use plastics consumption in different cultures

“…In educational settings, ocean literacy research has revealed that students' understanding of the ocean is significantly correlated with their environmental attitudes (Lin et al, 2020). Although ocean literacy is not usually included among the curricular contents or in the usual teaching practices-ocean literacy programs are often considered non-formal education (Ferreira et al, 2021)-its inclusion in all educational contexts should be a priority (Worm et al, 2021). We support these views for a conscious, informed concern about the ocean in the population.…”

“…Ocean literacy is essential here. Ocean literacy could be defined as the individual understanding of how the ocean affects people and how people affect the ocean (Costa and Caldeira, 2018;Worm et al, 2021). It is included within the Sustainable Development Goal 14-Life below water-in the United Nations Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (UNESCO-IOC, 2021).…”

Eco-creative nature-based solutions to transform urban coastlines, local coastal communities and enhance biodiversity through the lens of scientific and Indigenous knowledge

“…Examples of these types of interdisciplinary interventions include Pedelty et al's (2020) "Field to Media" co-creation of five different music videos to address a range of pressing environment related matters in USA/Canada, Tanzania, Bangladesh, China, and Haiti (Worm et al, 2021); the Canadian freely available audiovisual resource called Ocean School (http://oceanschool.ca) which uses a combination of visual storytelling, scientific inquiry and Indigenous knowledge to foster ocean literacy and engagement; David Rothenberg's (2008) duet with a Humpback whale; and, in South Africa, work done by Empatheatre (https://www.empatheatre.com) which is a collaborative, documentary theatre process that is being used by researchers to open up generative dialogue on complex issues and sources of conflicts about the ocean to offer potential methodological innovation in public consultation through storytelling and theatre performance. At this stage, however, there is little evidence of more eco-creative ocean-based pedagogy being produced in Southern Africa.…”

Gender and small-scale fisheries in Brazil: insights for a sustainable development agenda

“…The public sector, researchers, funding agencies, peer-reviewed journals, NGOs, and universities can foster science to be more applied to the world's real problems. Taking inclusiveness into account could remove the marine science field's historical barriers (Worm et al, 2021).…”