Una lettera da Francesca Santoro IOC-Unesco
| Dear colleagues, The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) is launching a series of online training courses on Ocean Literacy (OL) for educators, government officials and media, as well as for a wider public. The trainings will take place during February 2021, with the official start of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021 – 2030). Ocean Literacy is defined as ‘the understanding of the human influence on the ocean and the ocean’s influence on people’. It is not only about increasing awareness of the state of the ocean, but it is also about providing tools and approaches to transform ocean knowledge into actions that promote ocean sustainability. Ocean Literacy can be led by a broad range of stakeholders and can benefit a wide variety of beneficiaries. It involves both formal and non-formal education and should be adapted to local contexts across the world. |
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| Therefore, IOC-UNESCO’s online Ocean Literacy courses aim to provide a wide variety of perspectives to all those interested in getting a deeper understanding of Ocean Literacy, especially in relation to the UN Decade of Ocean Science.The Introductory Ocean Literacy course will provide an overview of the importance of the ocean, the challenges it faces, and ways forward for sustainability. The Ocean Literacy course for government officials will showcase the ocean as a source for development and introduce tools and approaches for decision-making and governance regarding ocean sustainability. The Ocean Literacy course for media and press will provide insights and tools to allow the development of attractive, accurate and effective storytelling about the ocean in media and press. The Ocean Literacy course for educators will provide an understanding on how formal and non-formal educators can incorporate OL in their work.The courses will showcase guest speakers and successful case-studies from multiple countries. Selected participants will access self-paced learning modules, online forums, and live webinars. Upon completion of this first cohort of selected participants, courses will be made publicly available for self-paced participation from a wider audience. To apply, please complete the application form by 20 January 2021 (midnight CET). |
| These free courses will be offered on IOC-UNESCO’s capacity-building platform, the Ocean Teacher Global Academy, and are kindly supported by the Government of Sweden and with the contribution of the Government of Flanders. I would also like to take the opportunity to invite you to visit the recently launched Ocean Literacy Portal and download the SHOAL app in which we invite you to join a global community focused on advancing Ocean Literacy. We appreciate if you could please share these opportunities with your network. Best regards, |