A global deficit in marine education, or ocean literacy, has prevented knowledge from reaching the public, which in turn slows uptake into environmental policy. Education therefore serves both the ecosystems we strive to protect and the young people whose future depends on them.
Blue Education aims to lay the groundwork for a generation of ocean advocates who will drive change and influence the management of marine resources. To do this Blue Education works to build support for marine protected areas in project locations where partners have reported a weak connection to the ocean. In addition, we create free resources combining innovative tech with curriculum-linked content to drive ocean education.
In 2025, we advised the English Curriculum Review on adopting a cross-curricular Earth Systems approach to ocean learning. We then invited Curriculum Review panellists to the Future Generations premiere of ‘OCEAN with David Attenborough’, showing key education policymakers the strong public appetite for change.
We also launched the Blue Marine Max Stenbeck Legacy Programme, which will deliver ocean advocacy film-making workshops, field-trips to conservation projects, and teacher-training opportunities. The aim is to reach thousands of children. Blue Marine’s education resources also achieved the Green Tick of quality assured approval, a trusted mark of excellence awarded by leading UK professional body the Association for Science Education.
Further afield in 2025, we partnered with Maldives Resilient Reefs to kick-start a Blue Ocean Learning Toolkit for teachers. Nineteen marine science teachers, local NGOs and the climate resilience officer of UNICEF contributed fresh, locally grounded case studies during the first planning workshop. Representatives from the Ministry of Education and the National Institute for Education attended, as well as the principal examiner for Cambridge International’s marine science iGCSE.
In Mozambique, Blue Marine is supporting Sea Her, a programme run by Love The Oceans to promote gender equity and reduce the exclusion of women in ocean spaces. We have been working with Leonor, a Mozambican who began her journey through its literacy programme. Her story is being brought to life in a new film that traces her path from learning to swim to emerging as a confident ocean steward.
