Venice Declaration for Ocean Literacy in Action — National Marine Educators Association

The Venice Declaration for Ocean Literacy in Action was recently unveiled at the Ocean Literacy World Conference on World Ocean Day 2024.

It was an inspiring day-and-a-half in a city whose culture and history are entirely tied to the ocean (Mediterranean Sea). The goal of this conference was to create “The Venice Declaration for Ocean Literacy in Action.”

This conference is one of the first initiatives of the Ocean Decade Coordination Office (DCO) for Connecting People and Ocean; the DCO is housed at the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science & Culture in Europe, located in Venice. The office was recently established to promote a more equitable, just, and harmonious relationship between humans and the ocean.

The Venice Declaration for Ocean Literacy in Action was informed by the responses to the Ocean Literacy Priorities Survey that was sent out over Scuttlebutt several weeks ago in early May. It was further refined at this meeting. The survey was based on the key drivers for change outlined in the White Paper for Challenge 10 of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, i.e., Restoring society’s relationship with the ocean. Those drivers are: Knowledge systems; Cultural Connections; Action (and Tools for Action); and Community.

The short term goal for the Venice Declaration is to urge the UN Ocean Conference 2025 committee to include Ocean Literacy as a central component of that event. The longer term goal is that the document will serve as a global framework for Ocean Literacy for a wide range of stakeholders, including educators.

Diana Payne and Sarah Schoedinger (Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, of the Ocean Literacy Committee) attended the event—Diana in her role as as a member of the IOC Group for Experts for Ocean Literacy and the Ocean Decade-endorsed program Ocean Literacy With All and Sarah attended as a representative of the US government (NOAA).

If you want to learn more about the Declaration and access recordings of some of the inspirational and informative presentations, please visit https://oceanliteracy.unesco.org/ocean-literacy-world-conference.