Marine expertise

"We can only love what we know and we will only protect what we love." 

If we want to preserve the ocean in a way that brings us joy and ensures our survival on the planet, we need to share knowledge about it much better. 

Only when we understand, through good communication, how important the ocean is to all of us, will we be able to make responsible decisions regarding the ocean and its resources. When we understand the ocean properly, we will voluntarily change our behavior and motivate others to do the same. 

The social commitment to our ocean, inspired by pioneers such as Hans Hass and Jacques Yves Cousteau and supported since 1992 by the German Ocean Foundation's research and media vessel ALDEBARAN, was highlighted in the early 2000s with the National Marine Educators Association in the USA, which has since developed into a worldwide movement of marine educators. The National Marine Educators Association has established the following principles as the basis for marine education:

• The earth has a large ocean with many features.

• The ocean and life in the ocean shape our planet. 

• The ocean has a major influence on weather and climate.

• The ocean makes the earth habitable.

• The ocean is home to a great diversity of life and ecosystems.

• The ocean and people are inextricably linked.

• The ocean is still largely unexplored.

At national level, the German Ocean Foundation and, at international level, UNESCO have been working since 2015 to include the ocean in school curricula. At the first UN Ocean Conference in 2017, it launched its commitment "Ocean Literacy for All" and aims to promote ocean literacy worldwide at all levels by providing templates such as guidelines and courses for policy makers, journalists, teachers and civil society.

The templates of the German Ocean Foundation are produced as part of the Ocean Lovers Education project in cooperation with the International Ocean Film Tour online offered.

In 2022, at the One Ocean Summit in France, UNESCO called on all countries to include marine education in their curricula by 2025 and presented its toolkit for policy makers, ministries of education and teachers at all levels: "A New Blue Curriculum". The toolkit provides guidance on how to develop and implement an ocean curriculum and highlights examples of countries already working on ocean education, such as Portugal, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Kenya and Sweden, and shows results, opportunities and challenges encountered in the attempt to include the ocean in the school curriculum.

The most recent conference on ocean literacy, which took place in Venice in 2024 and in which the German Ocean Foundation also participated, ended with the adoption of the Venice Declaration for Ocean Literacy in Action:

"Ocean literacy is more than understanding ocean science; it means recognizing the far-reaching consequences of our actions. By cultivating a global culture of ocean stewardship, we can enable a future in which we live in harmony with the ocean. It is our collective will and responsibility to foster a more equitable and sustainable relationship with our vital global commons: All life on Earth depends on it. We need an educated and informed society about our ocean, advocating for policies that respect the ocean's inherent right to exist, thrive and regenerate."

For the German Ocean Foundation, marine education for all is one of its most important priorities. Ocean knowledge should be accessible to everyone from kindergarten to elementary school to university - and further education, but also for older generations. Every Deutsche Meeresstiftung project has an educational element: from the "love your ocean" initiative at boot in Düsseldorf, which welcomes over 1,000 schoolchildren every year, to the annual Ocean Experience Days on the Baltic Sea coast or the Ocean Science exhibition on the Cap San Diego in Hamburg, to the ocean competition, where schoolchildren from the 9th grade onwards have the opportunity to conduct their own research on board the research vessel ALDEBARAN. 

In addition, the German Ocean Foundation organizes events and projects for schools, presents Ocean Lovers Education and our Ocean Book teaching materials for teachers and supports young marine biologists in the early stages of their careers.

We are convinced that the more you know about the ocean, the more you will do to protect it.