Bringing the Ocean into the Classroom

The ocean concerns everyone, even when we cannot see it. It regulates the climate, makes a decisive contribution to the production of the oxygen we breathe, influences food, the economy, transport, energy, biodiversity, and many of the professions and skills we will need in the years ahead. And yet, knowledge of the ocean still often occupies only a limited place in education and school curricula.

Bringing the ocean into the classroom therefore means helping younger generations better understand the world they live in, the challenges ahead, and the opportunities that can arise from a more conscious relationship with the sea and the ocean.

This is the idea behind the Network of European Blue Schools (NEBS): a European community of schools that turn Ocean Literacy into concrete projects developed together with students and teachers.

A school does not need to be located by the sea to become a Blue School: every school can start from its own territory, its own subjects, and the connections linking everyday life to the ocean.