Based on the 7 Ocean Literacy Principles, on the Sustainable Development Goals and on the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, Waves of Change is a project that aims to promote sustainable development and circular economy values through ocean literacy and stakeholder engagement.
Building upon existing knowledge and partnerships, this project will develop reusable education materials (e.g., Transitional Year cross-curricular module) and promote collaborative learning workshops among stakeholders. The project will focus on climate change, ocean pollution and biodiversity loss, and the outputs will target marine science, data analysis, critical thinking, and cross curriculum collaboration.
Three main target audience groups will be involved in this project: educators, policymakers, and the civil society. A series of assessment tools will be developed to estimate the Ocean Literacy level within Irish society and to stimulate and measure behaviour change through a succession of learning workshops, focus groups and carbon footprint audits. These activities allow for stakeholders to better understand the Ocean, make better informed decisions, and evaluate their consumption patterns with the aim of individual and community engagement towards a climate-neutral ocean economy.
The core team’s experience in stakeholder engagement, science communication and ocean literacy will allow for effective dissemination of results and engagement with local & national stakeholders. The innovative aspect of this project is the brainstorming workshops between educators, policymakers and selected members of the civil society, whose combined feedback will contribute to improving the teaching modules while promoting sustainable development values such as social equity, circular economy, and protection of the local environment. The project also includes focus groups with a selected group of participants to conduct perception surveys and carbon footprint audits, with specific indicators to assess behaviour change. Large audience engagement techniques (e.g., video competition; art exhibition) are also included to promote sustainability values.
For more details visit the project website at https://www.wavesofchange.net/
