The very first Ocean Literacy World Conference was held on 7 -8 June 2024, hosted in the enchanting, unique and “aquatic” city of Venice. Dedicated to enhancing the recognition, understanding and awareness of the ocean’s critical role in our lives and the planet’s health; it brought together educators, scientists, policymakers, and ocean advocates from around the world to share knowledge, best practices, and innovative strategies aimed at fostering ocean literacy across global and local scales.
Venice, with its rich maritime history and unique relationship with the sea, served as a fitting backdrop for this pivotal gathering. Participants had the opportunity to engage in dynamic discussions, interactive workshops, and collaborative sessions designed to inspire action and commitment towards ocean conservation and sustainable practices. Several members of the ECOP Programme were there, including Sophia Laarissa (National Ocean Literacy Coordinator for ECOP Morocco), Afiq Durrani (Ocean Literacy Hub in Asia) and Natalie Fox (Global communications coordinator).
Prior to the event, the ECOP Programme’s Ocean Literacy Task Team and Hubs in Africa and Asia, mobilized through online meetings and documents to discuss how to acknowledge and support the vital work of Early Career Ocean Professionals in the ocean literacy field, and include this point in the Draft of the Venice Declaration. Martina Gaglioti from Italy provided key comments that formed the basis of a proposal, and then during the workshops in Venice, the ECOP proposal was delivered. Learn more about Martina and her work in this interview.
The team were extremely proud to learn that the proposal had been taken on board overnight, and in the final version of declaration an extra point had been added:
“Foster a sustainable ocean literate workforce. We must invest in holistic trans-disciplinary education that bridges the gaps between sciences and humanities, finance, and technology. Encourage inter-generational dialogue and exchange, value Early Career Ocean Professionals’ (ECOPs) mindset, include them in the decision-making process and create the environment to allow them to emerge as new leaders. Inform students about job opportunities, legitimize the workforce, and offer life-long learning. This will build capacity among ocean professionals to shape an equitable, sustainable ocean economy while preserving ocean health.”
In the declaration announcement, Martina was invited to the stage to announce the “ECOP point”, standing for the global community of ECOPs who will undoubtedly shape the future of ocean literacy with their work and efforts. The revised Venice Declaration was released on 9 June 2024, and will be used as living document to continue the dialogue among stakeholders everywhere, as well as suggest focal points for the next UN Ocean Conference.
A symbolic handover of the finished document took place, with it being presented by Massimiliano De Martin, Councilor for the Environment for the City of Venice, to Aurore Asso, Council advisor for Ocean Conservation & Marine Protected Areas for Nice and the Côte d’Azur, the host city of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference.
There were many other highlights during the conference, including two Early Career Ocean Professionals as invited guest speakers on the high level panel, giving their perspective from the Global South, and discussing ocean literacy best practice.
Afiq Durrani (Malaysia) highlighted the extensive ocean literacy efforts happening in Asia right now, and also the vast range of cultures inherent within the region – the range of local communities, projects, languages, Islands and ecosystems, make it truly diverse. However, this means coordination needs to take into account this diversity, and respond to different needs and challenges within the region, in order to include Asian educators, researchers, scientists and volunteers in the global landscape.
Shamim Wasii Nyanda (Tanzania) spoke of the local communities she is working with in Tanzania, she raised the key point about the need for the development of sustainable and resilient ocean climate solutions – from the local perspective. These solutions (such as products from regenerative marine resources like seaweed), should be created in collaboration with local people – and in her case she works with the Bagamoyo Entrepreneurs. By integrating traditional knowledge with innovative practices, solutions can be designed to help communities adapt to changing environmental conditions, whilst providing skills, economic benefits and increased ocean literacy and stewardship for marine ecosystems.
Throughout the 2 day event, which coincidentally fell over the ECOP Programme’s third anniversary (7 June) and World Ocean Day (8 June), there were plenty of ocean inspired presentations and workshops including:
- Nicola Bridge, delivered an engaging and uplifting keynote talk, exploring the emergence of ocean literacy, how it has evolved over the last 20 years and future perspectives, we need to take into account. Nicola, who is Head of Ocean Advocacy and Engagement at the Ocean Conservation Society in Plymouth, UK has been a pioneer in this field for 20 years herself, striving for ocean literacy engagement through marine conservation partnerships (both locally, Nationally and Internationally), educational programmes at the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth and through community activities such as marine restoration (particularly with seagrass meadows). She is alsocCo-chair for Ocean Decade Challenge 10 working group, who have just released the final paper “Restoring society’s relationship with the ocean”, of which, she gave insights into the participatory process to achieve such a document.
- A special screening of the documentary “Kindergarten of the Lagoon” took place at Cinema Multisala Rossini and was open to the public. You can watch the trailer and the full film to be inspired by this original concept to encourage children’s natural curiosity in the environment to flourish and reconnect to the waterways and water surrounding them.
- The unveiling of the SEA BEYOND Ideas Box from Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (BSF) / Libraries Without Borders – expressed the mission of a French NGO that is working to bring knowledge and information to people in need. BSF provides access that connects people to educational and creative resources by expanding the reach of libraries and training facilitators in post-emergency situations. The animated conversation between Philippe Starck (French architect and designer) and Patrick Wail (Founder of BSF), shared how they are addressing the needs of under-resourced communities, such as refugee camps, with live-saving and life-changing tools like books and digital resources.
- The audience were also introduced to the SEABEYONDERS, a group of ambassadors for the SEABEYOND project (a joint initiative between Prada Group and IOC-UNESCO, responsible for hosting of the event). This group of diverse professionals, working across sports, marine biology, education, restoration, advocacy, journalism and sports spoke about their special connection with the sea to inspire awe within the audience. Giovanni Chimienti (Marine Biologist and National Geographic Explorer), Maya Gabeira (Big Wave Surfer and UNESCO Champion for Ocean and Youth), Carmelo Isgrò (Biologist and Founder of the MuMa Milazzo Sea Museum), Valentina Gottlieb (Photojournalist and National Geographic Explorer) and Titouan Bernicot (Founder and CEO of Coral Gardeners) also guided participants through a hands-on workshop they had developed. Titouan explained more about the coral gardens he cultivates in Tahiti, and shared a short film screening of Coexistence. Maya Gabeira, read from her upcoming book, “Maya Makes Waves” and said: “In my second book, Maya Makes Waves, the ocean asks Maya to be its voice. It was only in 2020, when I peaked in my sport and got my second world record, that I realised it didn’t make sense for me to be a top athlete and not be more outspoken. I want to show people you can do both – you can have big goals in life, but it doesn’t make sense if you don’t use your voice.” Giovanni Chimienti shared a photo exhibition from the deep Ocean and said: “I’ve always been fascinated by the ocean, particularly by the unseen depths of our planet. Black corals are among the protagonists of the deep sea, and they can live for more than a thousand years. They’ve been through several mass extinctions and catastrophic events, and yet in the space of 200 years they’re threatened by our actions. Coral ecosystems are so important, but so fragile.”
The ECOP group managed to grow throughout the conference, shining a light on the fact that this emerging field within the Ocean sector is a career path for many, especially those just embarking on their career. It was clear ECOPs are leading the way with ocean literacy initiatives, helping create best practices and advancing this relatively new, trans-disciplinary field. We encourage anyone that is interested, to learn more and reach out to our teams who are committed to this area of work: the Ocean Literacy Task Team, the Ocean Literacy Hub in Asia and Africa and Endorsed Project: Citizens of Surf.
We’ll leave you with the words of the Declaration, which drives us forward towards our shared goals:
“The ocean’s well-being is inseparable from our own. As our understanding of marine ecosystems improves, so too does our awareness of the impact that our behavior has on the ocean’s health. This interconnectedness underscores the critical role of Ocean Literacy in shaping a sustainable future and for the success of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.”
Read the full Declaration here.
You can also rewatch the entire conference on the UNESCO Venice Office’s YouTube Channel.
A huge thank you to IOC-UNSECO, the team of experts for the Declaration and especially Francesca Santoro, Coordinator of the Ocean Literacy With All Programme for hosting us in stunning Venice; and for listening to, appreciating and incorporating our contributions. We look forward to hopefully collaborating again for the upcoming UNOC in France, 2025.
Words and photos by: Natalie Fox. Main photo: IOC-UNESCO.
