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Ocean Literacy (OL) has been defined as an understanding of the ocean’s influence on people and their influence on the ocean. The OL movement was born in the US and its framework consisted of seven essential principles and 45 fundamental concepts; it is now largely accepted worldwide for use in both formal (schools and universities) and non-formal (research institutes, aquaria, museums, etc.) education settings. Based on this framework, marine scientists and educators developed the “Mediterranean Sea Literacy” (MSL) guide adapted to the specificities of the Mediterranean region, presented here. The MSL principles (7) and concepts (43), serving as guidance for research, education, informed decision-making, and improved citizens’ lifestyles, aim to contribute to environmental protection, conservation, and restoration of the Mediterranean Sea as well as to help to achieve a blue innovative and sustainable economy.

EMSEA Med is an international Mediterranean group of educators and scientists/researchers. It was established in 2015 within EMSEA on the basis of the common regional origin and of the shared interest for the promotion of OL along the Mediterranean Sea. This “Sea in the middle of the Earth”, the largest and deepest enclosed sea on Earth, cradle of western civilization, global diversity hot spot, home to half billion people and world leading touristic destination, displays unique features that are under threat. That makes the diffusion of OL in this area necessary as OL citizens are able to make informed and responsible decisions regarding the Mediterranean Sea and its resources. Since 2015 EMSEA Med group issued the following resources: (a) the translation of OL principles and concepts into different languages (GR, ES, IT) and (b) a Mediterranean Sea Literacy (MSL) Guide, containing the Mediterranean Sea Literacy principles and concepts, still undergoing revision and progressive refinement. In the same period EMSEA Med group promoted the diffusion of OL through international conferences (EMSEA conferences 2016, 2017 ; EGU conference 2018), as well as through a regional group page on EMSEA website and a Facebook page with updates and news on MSL, OL and other related issues. EMSEA Med members also organized joint events (World Oceans Day and the European Maritime Day) and implemented educational activities for schools and general public, included, in one country, teacher-training courses. In order to integrate the educational activities, EMSEA Med members from Italy, Greece and Croatia proposed to start a research program to investigate and measure OL among younger students of the Mediterranean countries. The measurement of OL will help us to: a) assess the quality of marine education in national education systems across the Mediterranean Sea and b) have a baseline for better promoting OL in the future. For this purpose a questionnaire was drafted grounding on OL and MSL principles and following the guidelines of OL Scope and Sequence for Grades K-12 (NMEA, 2010). The questionnaire includes multiple-choice questions and attitude questions, addressing the students’ knowledge and opinions about the ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Two versions of this tool (for ages 8-12 and 13- 15, primary and middle school respectively) were designed an developed in English, translated into Italian, Greek, and Croatian, and pilot tested in the respective countries. About 800 questionnaires have been collected (500 from Italy, 250 from Greece and 100 from Croatia). This activity is at its early beginning and further research is needed concerning validity and reliability. OL approach is quite new for Mediterranean countries and exceeds the traditional naturalistic teaching of ocean sciences, so the collection of data and the development of new tools will help to evaluate the outcomes of the initiative and to improve Mediterranean Sea Literacy among future citizens.

The Mediterranean Sea region is the cradle of modern civilization, a biodiversity hotspot, the most visited touristic area and home to over 460 million people. Increasing stresses due to tourism, fishing, coastal development, pollution, shipping and climate change are threatening the fragile Mediterranean Sea ecosystem. Sustainable development of the Mediterranean region is integrated in the most important development plans concerning this area e.g. Mediterranean Action Plan, Plan Bleu. Mediterranean Sea Literacy (MSL) was developed as a tool in order to understand the services provided by the Mediterranean Sea, its connection to people and to help understand the need for sustainable development in this region. It was developed following the form of Ocean Literacy principles. A draft version of MSL consists of 7 principles and 46 concepts which describe different aspects of the Mediterranean Sea and its connection to people and society. Mediterranean Sea Literacy provides fundamental knowledge about the Mediterranean Sea to educators, teachers, scientists, NGOs, blue economy and business sector, policy makers and general public, thus helping to raise awareness and achieve a blue and sustainable Mediterranean region at all levels of society.

Building on the EMSEA experience, a group of researchers and educators from the Mediterranean Region, EMSEAMED, started a collaborative and innovative effort to promote the ocean literacy principles in the region, and to adapt them to the specificities of the Mare Nostrum. The Mediterranean Sea is not only considered the cradle of civilization, but it has also great environmental, social and economic importance. With this work we aim at making the Mediterranean citizens, as well as all those having a stake in it, more aware of its potential and role for sustainable blue economy. The Mediterranean Sea is also changing fast in response to both natural and anthropogenic pressures. Climate change, growing maritime traffic and marine litter pollution, overexploitation of fish stocks and invasions of alien species are among the main threats placing the Mediterranean region at risk. At the same time, the Mediterranean’s unique features, such as the exceptional Mediterranean biodiversity and the unique and mild Mediterranean climate positively influence human activities such as agriculture, mariculture, and tourism. This presentation will focus on the EMSEA MED group method of work, and on the first draft Mediterranean Sea Literacy principles and concepts. The main objective is to have a first peer-review of what has been done so far, and to gather support from other colleagues willing to join this effort.