Project Aims and Objectives

Aims

This project 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 focuses on three thematic areas:

  1. Climate Change

  2. Ocean Pollution

  3. Biodiversity Loss

The outputs of Waves of Change will target marine science, data analysis, critical thinking, and cross-curriculum collaboration.

Three main target audience groups will be involved: educators, policymakers, and civil society.

Objectives

The main objectives of Waves of Change are to:

  1. Assess the current level of ocean literacy in Ireland among the target stakeholder groups;

  2. Build on the knowledge and efforts already in place, such as those of networks like the Irish Ocean Literacy Network, to highlight best practices for integrating OL into sustainable and educational projects in Ireland.

  3. Create freely accessible educational resources and factsheets on ocean literacy that emphasise the Irish context and encourage behavioural change.

  4. Make sure to closely monitor and evaluate the impact of focus groups and educational materials, including how they affect public engagement.

  5. Promote Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on ocean literacy.

  6. Conduct a series of carbon footprint audits to assess consumption patterns and promote behaviour change with a focus group.

 

 

A series of assessment tools will be developed to estimate the ocean literacy perception levels 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 stakeholders to understand the ocean better, 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 is experienced in stakeholder engagement, science communication, and ocean literacy, allowing for the effective dissemination of results and local and national stakeholder engagement.

The innovative aspect of this project is the brainstorming workshops between Educators, Policymakers, and selected members of 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. We also include large audience engagement techniques (like video competitions, art exhibitions, etc.) to promote sustainability values.