Speed Presentation 2024 Australian Marine Sciences Association Annual Meeting combined with NZMSS

Evidence on the nature and use of Ocean Literacy in achieving sustainable ocean futures (#218)

Rebecca J Shellock 1 , Liam Fullbrook 1 , Emma McKinley 2 , Christopher Cvitanovic 3 , Rachel Kelly 4 , Vicki Martin 5
  1. University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
  2. Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
  3. UNSW, Canberra, ACT, Australia
  4. UTAS, Hobart, TAS, Australia
  5. Mosaic Insights, Brisbane, Queensland, Au

Ocean Literacy has been recognised as an essential part of the strategies necessary to change human behaviours and practices that can result in healthier marine ecosystems, while allowing sustainable development opportunities. Ocean Literacy was originally defined as the understanding of the ocean's influence on humans and of our influence on the ocean. The concept of Ocean Literacy has been predominantly applied in formal education and training contexts. But more contemporary models have recently expanded the original education-based framing of Ocean Literacy and proposed a series of additional dimensions (including awareness, attitude, behaviour and emotional connections). Due to the developments in the field and the increasing acknowledgement of Ocean Literacy in international frameworks and policy goals, there is a need to take stock of the evidence base. In response to this, the present study used a systematic map to synthesise the existing evidence on Ocean Literacy. This evidence map provides the first updatable, interrogable and comprehensive source of evidence on this topic and will help to reduce the amount of time and resources that researchers, practitioners and decision-makers spend in identifying evidence.