This story is a part of the GenOcean campaign — an official Ocean Decade campaign showcasing Decade Actions, collaborating organizations and ocean leaders that focus on youth and citizen science opportunities to help anyone, anywhere be the change the ocean needs.
Launched in 2018 as a UK experiment inspired by World Book Day, World Ocean Day for Schools has grown into a global movement reaching over 9,000 schools across 115 countries. Hosted by Protect Blue, it transforms World Ocean Day from a single date in June into a year-round journey of connection, inviting students everywhere, whether by an ocean, river or lake, to explore their local “blue spaces” and discover how they can become lifelong advocates for the planet’s water.
“You can protect the ocean no matter where you live,” says Linzi Hawkin, Protect Blue’s strategist and co-founder. “Our mission at World Ocean Day for Schools is to help connect kids all around the world to their local blue spaces and inspire them to become ocean advocates.”
From Local to Global: A Movement with Measurable Impact
What began with 400 UK schools mapping coastal blue spaces now includes 3,200 mapped blue spaces worldwide. Protect Blue’s creative approach ensures that non-coastal communities are equally engaged, proving that ocean literacy is for everyone.
World Ocean Day for Schools, an official Ocean Decade Action, addresses two Ocean Decade Challenges:
9 – Skills, knowledge, technology and participation for all
10 – Restore society’s relationship with the ocean
The initiative delivers an impressive impact around the world with their latest report showcasing five key takeaways:
- Maintaining a creative approach to ocean literacy
- Making resources accessible and relevant to non-coastal communities
- Collaboration as key and essential to do this work
- Building resources that can be used year-round
- Centering the learning around connection and stewardship of blue spaces
“World Ocean Day for Schools is a fantastic opportunity not only to explore the relationships people have with the sea, but also to understand how these relationships are formed in childhood,” says interdisciplinary marine scientist Dr. Pamela Buchan, who also took part in Working Group 9 of the Ocean Decade Vision 2030 process. “This is the first time that marine citizenship and what motivates it will be investigated in young people on a global scale. The data collected through this project will help researchers to better understand how marine citizenship can be promoted in all people.”
A Game That Turns Students Into Ocean Advocates
This year, Protect Blue launched something special to bring their mission to life: the Ocean Decade Challenge for Schools. It’s an interactive card game that connects the issues the ocean is facing with actions everyone can do to protect their blue space. It brings the Ocean Decade Challenges to life, depicting the actions of a “good blue human” and what doing work in all types of blue spaces can look like.
“One of the most powerful aspects of World Ocean Day for Schools is the network of incredible educators, activists, scientists, artists and community leaders who contribute their energy and insight,” says Linzi. “We collaborated with 30 different ocean, river and lake advocates around the world to tell their stories.”
Global Reach, Local Stories
Every year, Bow Seat curates a digital collection of top works from the Contest which becomes a living archive of how youth across cultures are experiencing and responding to the environmental and ocean crises. From a stop-motion film in China about microplastic nightmares to a watercolor painting from India that celebrates ocean memory, the submissions are as diverse as they are urgent.
“This is about more than just climate science,” says Jess Leffler, Bow Seat’s Senior Vice President. “It’s about memory, culture and emotion. It’s about what it means to care and engage in a creative, meaningful and impactful way. That’s what makes these stories so powerful.”
These stories are reflected in the card game. The concept is simple:
- Select a card that most closely aligns with your blue space – ocean, river or lake.
- Then, choose one of the 10 Ocean Decade Challenges from the second deck.
- Together, these two cards reveal a real-world problem which guide you to choose a skill you align with to solve it.
- Find a “Good Blue Human,” someone who is working on this challenge right now in the world, and learn from them.
It’s playful, collaborative and empowering. Students aren’t just learning about ocean issues, but building self-efficacy and a sense of agency, while also potentially being inspired to pursue marine science pathways. They see how their own creativity, problem-solving and teamwork can ripple outward into real change. This challenge teaches you that you don’t have to be on the coast to learn about the ocean or be a part of the change.
“Our strength lies in how we design the experience of World Ocean Day for Schools,” Linzi elaborates in the World Ocean Days for School’s 2025 impact report, “with creativity at the heart of how we structure the day, shape the themes and develop teaching resources.”
Real Human Stories That Spark Change
For a young person, discovering that they can be part of something bigger is a powerful moment. That spark of agency, that they and their skills can contribute to something, is what turns curiosity into advocacy.
The initiative thrives on a global network of storytellers who contribute their stories to inspire the next generation. One of them is Carla Lourenço, a scientist dedicated to coral reef research.
“The ocean called my name like it did with Moana,” she recalls. “Nature became my second school and my second home.”
From a curious child enchanted by the sea to a scientist dedicated to coral reef research and conservation, her journey began, like so many others, with a simple sense of wonder at the water’s edge. World Ocean Day for Schools exists to spark that same curiosity, planting seeds of connection that can grow into a lifelong commitment to protecting our blue planet.
Protect Blue Beyond the Classroom
World Ocean Day for Schools is just one chapter in Protect Blue’s much bigger story. As a creative agency, Protect Blue designs bold campaigns and immersive strategies that inspire action for the ocean. Working side by side with NGOs, governments and local communities, they blend strategy, storytelling, education and expeditions to spark meaningful change that lasts.
One of their most innovative contributions is the Blue Campus, a learning space for ocean leaders, activists and grassroots advocates to build capacity without burning out. This space isn’t inside a school, but exists within the waves, trails, forest and open skies.
How to Get Involved
- Register your school at the World Ocean Day for Schools website.
- Map your blue space — ocean, river, or lake.
- Explore resources created by Protect Blue and their network of 30 Good Blue Humans.
If you’re interested in Protect Blue’s multitude of projects, visit their website and learn more about their agency and the Blue Campus.
