Written by: Geniko Lykeio Siteias
Ocean Literacy is commonly defined as understanding “the ocean’s influence on us and our influence on the ocean” [3]. Around it, the EU has built three mutually reinforcing layers: the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” sets the destination, the Network of European Blue Schools (NEBS) provides the educational model, and the Horizon Europe project SHORE supplies the means. The TURTLES’ Road Map (TUROMAP) project shows how the three connect in a small coastal school.
The policy layer. The Mission pursues three objectives – protecting and restoring marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, preventing and eliminating pollution, and making the blue economy carbon-neutral and circular – backed by two enablers: a digital ocean and water knowledge system, and public mobilisation and engagement [1]. It is delivered through basin-scale “lighthouses”; the Mediterranean lighthouse is devoted to pollution, with plastic as its first focus [1].
The educational layer. NEBS, developed within the EU4Ocean Coalition supported by the Commission’s DG MARE, invites every school to “find the blue”. Certification rests on five compulsory criteria – interlinked activities, a clear output, involvement of all students, collaboration with a local partner and communication of results – while further criteria encourage authentic, multidisciplinary and out-of-classroom learning, inland–coastal cooperation and a European dimension [2].
The implementation layer. SHORE (“EmpOweR Students as the agents of cHangE”) is a 36-month Mission Ocean project (2023–2026) coordinated by Yıldız Technical University. Its three open calls offered schools in the Mediterranean, Baltic, Black Sea, Danube and Rhine areas grants of up to €10,000, mentoring by regional Country Hubs, and Open Schooling and Blue Skills resources, aiming to fund at least 100 schools [4, 5]. Its link with NEBS is contractual, not rhetorical: applicants must already be Blue Schools or show how they will meet the accreditation prerequisites by the end of the project; twinning with other Blue Schools is encouraged and a European Climate Pact commitment is required [5].
The local evidence. TUROMAP is officially listed among the Mediterranean projects funded under SHORE Open Call #2 [6]. In the 2024–25 school year it involved 50 pupils and all ten teachers, together with parents, a local volunteer turtle club, external specialists and ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece [10]. Its “Plastic Footprint Zero” strand brought the school into NEBS, and twinning with Blue Schools in Croatia and Türkiye added the European dimension [10]. The project thus met both the Blue School criteria and SHORE’s requirements – and its plastic strand addresses exactly the priority the Mission set for the Mediterranean. It is also open schooling as the Commission defines it: a school acting with other stakeholders for the well-being of its community, with families as genuine partners and professionals bringing real-life problems into the classroom [9]. The coastline became the classroom, and pupils acted in turn as researchers, citizen scientists, communicators and Ocean Ambassadors.
Why the turtle. Starting from the loggerhead is scientifically sound, not only emotionally powerful. Under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the Barcelona Convention, Caretta caretta is the indicator species for monitoring litter ingested by marine animals in the Mediterranean [7] – what harms the turtle is, officially, a measure of what harms the sea. Greece hosts the largest share of Mediterranean loggerhead nesting, and ARCHELON now protects more than 10,000 nests a season in the Peloponnese, Zakynthos and Crete [8]. Pupils who follow the turtle from nesting beach to open sea – through plastic, coastal habitats, tourism pressure and a warming climate – learn to reason from species to ecosystem, as marine scientists do.
Mission Ocean sets the destination, the Blue Schools network the identity, SHORE the means – and TUROMAP the evidence that the model works. Its road map is simple: begin with the turtle, discover the ecosystem, understand the threats, involve the community, and learn that protecting marine life means protecting the sea itself.
Sources
[1] European Commission (2021). EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030”: Implementation Plan; Communication on European Missions.
[2] Copejans, E. et al. (2020). A Wave of European Blue Schools: Handbook for Teachers. European Commission, DG MARE, Brussels; EC Maritime Forum, NEBS project criteria.
[3] Santoro, F. et al. (2017). Ocean Literacy for All: A Toolkit (IOC Manuals and Guides 80). Paris: IOC-UNESCO.
[4] SHORE – EmpOweR Students as the agents of cHangE, Horizon Europe GA 101112815: CORDIS project record; EC Maritime Forum action description.
[5] SHORE (2024–25). Open Call #2 – Guidelines for Applicants; Open Calls requirements and FAQ, shoreproject.eu/open-calls.
[6] SHORE (2026). Funded projects, Open Call #2: Primary School of Palekastro, “TURTLES’ Road Map”. shoreproject.eu/funded-projects
[7] Matiddi, M. et al. (2017). Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta): a target species for monitoring litter ingested by marine organisms in the Mediterranean Sea. Environmental Pollution, 230, 199–209. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2017.06.054
[8] ARCHELON (2025). Nest monitoring results, archelon.gr; SWOT Report (2019). Sea Turtles of the Mediterranean Sea.
[9] European Commission (2015). Science Education for Responsible Citizenship. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
[10] Primary School of Palekastro (2025). TUROMAP project records and final report to SHORE.