Protecting Children’s Rights to Development and Culture by Re-Imagining “Ocean Literacies”

This paper examines how international children's rights standards relate to ocean health and argues that ocean literacy in environmental education should be reconceived as multiple literacies reflecting different knowledge systems. The authors propose that ocean education should take a systems approach and incorporate environmental justice principles rather than placing responsibility for environmental futures on children. The paper provides recommendations for contextualising ocean literacies in line with the UN Ocean Decade initiative.

Key points

• Children have human rights to development and cultural rights connected to a healthy ocean, which are currently underestimated in international standards
• Ocean literacy should be conceptualised as a plurality of 'ocean literacies' to account for multiple ocean knowledges rather than a single concept
• Environmental education should integrate environmental justice perspectives and systems approaches to ocean understanding
• Current approaches to ocean literacy risk placing psychological pressure on children to be responsible for environmental futures
• Contextualising ocean literacies is essential within the UN Ocean Decade framework

Limitations

This paper is a conceptual reflection on legal standards and educational approaches rather than an empirical study, so it does not provide evidence of what ocean literacy approaches actually achieve for children's outcomes or wellbeing. The document does not present quantitative or qualitative data from classroom implementation or child participation studies.