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Blue Schools

Young Voices of the Ocean

From the United Nations Global Ocean Assessment to Youth Action

An initiative of Maré de Ciência UNIFESP, in collaboration with UN DOALOS, developed through the Blue Schools Global Network (BSGN).

Blue Schools Young Voices of the Ocean is an invitation for your students to use the latest advances in ocean science to understand real-world problems in their own communities and propose solutions. The starting point is the United Nations World Ocean Assessment III (WOA III), the most comprehensive scientific document ever produced on the health of the ocean.

Instead of simply studying the ocean in textbooks, students will act as researchers: they will choose a local problem related to the sea, river, or watershed in their region, contrast this problem with one of the challenges of the Ocean Decade and with the scientific knowledge of WOA III, listen to experts and communities, and present a real action proposal.

In one sentence, to explain to students

“Let's use United Nations ocean science to understand and propose solutions to a real problem in our community.”

01 — What does this opportunity consist of?

How is this different from a typical school project?

I

It is not a competition, but a collaborative process of listening and dialogue.

II

Connect the classroom to an international network (UNESCO-IOC, UN DOALOS, WOA III scientists, other Blue Schools around the world).

III

The students' work could be recognized in national, regional and potentially global dialogues during the UN Ocean Decade Conference in Rio de Janeiro in April 2027.

IV

It is genuinely interdisciplinary: science, geography, the arts, communication, technology, the humanities, and local knowledge come together.

What is the role of the teacher?

You don't need to be an expert in oceanography. Your role is that of a facilitator: helping students organize the research process, ensuring they carry out the work themselves (with support, not replacement, from adults or AI), and connecting the class with the official moments of the initiative (launch, dialogues, video submissions).

02 — Why is it worth participating?

What each group gains

Before presenting it to the students, it is important to understand what benefits each group gains from this experience.

For students

  • They develop scientific thinking applied to a real-world problem, using data from an official UN source.
  • They take the initiative: they research, interview, create, and publicly present their ideas.
  • They have the opportunity to engage in direct dialogue with scientists, ocean literacy experts, and UN representatives.
  • In this way, they gain regional and potentially international visibility for the group's work.

For teachers

  • An interdisciplinary project that is already ready, with its structure, stages and deadlines defined.
  • Official support material (WOA III, Challenges of the Decade of the Oceans, materials on ocean literacy).
  • An opportunity to connect with other teachers in the Blue Schools Network, in Brazil and other countries.

For school

  • It reinforces the school's reputation as a Blue School committed to science, citizenship and sustainability.
  • Create a concrete narrative to communicate the impact of the project to the school community and families.
03 — Who can participate?

Accessible to different school contexts

The initiative was designed to be accessible to different school contexts. See the main criteria:

Age of students From 9 to 18 years old
Equipment size From 5 to 15 students per team
Teachers involved At least two teachers, ideally from different subject areas
Institutional link The school must be a Blue School or be connected to a national Blue Schools initiative
04 — The student's journey: step by step

Seven steps

The process consists of 7 steps. Think of them as a sequence of lessons or a multi-week project. You don't have to do it all at once. Each step offers suggestions for classroom activities.

01

Explore the local reality

The team identifies an ocean-related case study that affects their community, coast, island, watershed, or region. This could include pollution, coastal erosion, biodiversity loss, fishing, tourism, waste, and other issues.

Ideas for classroom activities
  • Discussion circle: “What water or ocean-related issue affects our neighborhood/city/region?”
  • Observation walk (if possible) to a nearby river, beach, mangrove or coastal area.
02

Select a central challenge or initiative

Among the problems raised, the team chooses ONE case to investigate in depth (this avoids dispersion and allows for more coherent work).

Ideas for classroom activities
  • Group voting or debate with simple criteria: local relevance, available data, student interest.
03

Connecting with the challenges of the Decade of Oceans

The local case is associated with one or more of the 10 challenges of the UN Decade of the Oceans (marine pollution, biodiversity, sustainable food, climate resilience, among others).

Ideas for classroom activities
  • Present the list of the 10 challenges of the Decade of the Oceans and ask students to justify in writing the connection they have chosen.
 The 10 challenges of the Decade of Oceans
04

Use the knowledge derived from the World Ocean Assessment (WOA III)

In WOA III, students research scientific information to help explain their chosen problem. They begin with the general summary and then move on to the sections most relevant to the team's topic.

Ideas for classroom activities
  • Guided reading activity: divide the class into groups, and each group will read a different section of WOA III related to the topic.
  • If the language barrier poses a challenge, AI translation tools can help to understand the message.
 Website of the Third World Ocean Assessment (WOA III)
05

To engage in dialogue with people and knowledge

The team seeks to collaborate with scientists, local communities, marine professionals, public administrators and other knowledge holders, either in person or online (contact the Blue School coordination team for contact information).

Ideas for classroom activities
  • Prepare, together with the students, a simple interview script (3 to 5 questions) before any conversation with a guest or expert, and schedule the conversation.
06

Propose a solution or action

The team develops a realistic and locally relevant proposal. Something that could actually inspire change in the community. It doesn't have to be grand; small, well-founded actions also have value.

Ideas for classroom activities
  • Idea prototyping workshop: each team presents 2 to 3 possible actions and chooses the most viable one based on criteria such as impact, feasibility, and community involvement.
07

Share the team's voice

The team prepares a short video and a Youth Declaration of up to 5 minutes in length, in which they present the challenge, the evidence and the proposed measures.

Ideas for classroom activities
  • Rehearsal of the oral presentation with feedback between teams before the final recording.
05 — Quick guide

The 10 challenges of the Decade of the Oceans

These are the main global themes defined by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The local case study chosen by the team must be linked to one or more of these challenges. For example: marine pollution, biodiversity, sustainable ocean food, climate resilience, ocean data, community resilience, or ocean culture, among others described in the official document.

The full list and official descriptions of the 10 challenges should be consulted directly from the official source listed below, as they may be updated periodically.

Check out the 10 challenges of the Decade of the Oceans (oceandecade.org)
06 — Connections with the curriculum

Truly interdisciplinary work

One of the strengths of this initiative is the possibility of truly interdisciplinary work. Use the table below as a starting point for planning with colleagues from other areas.

Science / Biology

Understanding marine and coastal ecosystems, natural cycles, and environmental impacts.

Geography

Cartography of the study area, territorial analysis, relationship between community and territory.

Portuguese language and writing

Drafting the Youth Declaration, video script and promotional texts.

Arts

Visual elements of the video, posters and visual identity of the campaign.

Technology / Computing

Video production and editing, responsible use of AI tools, digital research.

Mathematics

Reading and interpreting data and graphs presented in WOA III.

History / Sociology / Citizenship

Analysis of the role of the community, public policies, and citizen participation.

English language

Reading parts of WOA III and international materials, preparing for global dialogues.

07 — The role of Artificial Intelligence in the project

Share these rules clearly with the class

AI is now a widely accessible tool that can help overcome language barriers and limitations in accessing resources, including understanding technical documents such as WOA III. At the same time, it is crucial to ensure that the challenge is genuinely created by the students themselves.

AI can be used for

  • To help in the translation and understanding of scientific texts, such as WOA III.
  • To facilitate grammatical review and clarity of the final text.
  • To assist in the initial research of references and contexts.
  • To assist in the creation of complementary visual elements.

AI CANNOT be used for

  • Draft or generate the proposed solution on behalf of the team.
  • Replace the local research and community consultation process.
  • Be the “voice” of the oral presentation. The team should present in their own words.
  • Develop the central argument or territorial analysis of the project.
Transparency is mandatory
  • The team must indicate, in the source mapping, when, how (including the workflow used) and what AI tools were used, with the same honesty that is applied to any other source.
  • Suggestion: create a simple “AI usage log” table with the class, starting in the first week of the project.
08 — Chronology

When things happen

Dates vary depending on the hemisphere where your school is located, to respect the local academic calendar. Find your region below.

Southern Hemisphere

September–November 2026
Development of projects by schools in the southern hemisphere.
Until the end of November 2026
Schools in the southern hemisphere send their videos.
December 2026 – February 2027
National Dialogues: selected teams present their work; each country chooses its national representative (online).
February 2027
Youth dialogue with ocean experts (special online session with experts from DOALOS and WOA and guests) (to be confirmed).
March 1–5, 2027
Regional dialogues for young people from blue schools (online session by region, date to be confirmed).
April 2027
Global online event during the UN Ocean Decade Conference in Rio de Janeiro.
June 2027
Possible collective climactic moment during UN World Oceans Day.

Northern Hemisphere

Oct 2026 – Jan 2027
Development of projects by schools in the northern hemisphere.
Until the end of January 2027
Schools in the northern hemisphere send their videos.
December 2026 – February 2027
National Dialogues: selected teams present their work; each country chooses its national representative (online).
February 2027
Youth dialogue with ocean experts (special online session with experts from DOALOS and WOA and guests) (to be confirmed).
March 1–5, 2027
Regional dialogues for young people from blue schools (online session by region, date to be confirmed).
April 2027
Global online event during the UN Ocean Decade Conference in Rio de Janeiro.
June 2027
Possible collective climactic moment during UN World Oceans Day.
09 — Essential Resources

Official materials

These are the official materials recommended to support the work of students and teachers.

Resources for students

List of drafting teams for WOA III

Professors can consult the WOA III writing team list to identify potential scientists or experts who can provide support to students, when appropriate.

The 10 challenges of the Decade of Oceans

Students should relate the local problem they address to one or more of the Decade of the Oceans Challenges, such as marine pollution, biodiversity, climate resilience, sustainable food, ocean data, community resilience, or ocean culture.

Ocean literacy

Students and teachers can use the Ocean Literacy toolkit to connect their projects to a broader understanding of the relationship between people and the ocean.

Support resources for teachers

Blue Schools Global Network (BSGN) Toolkit

Teachers and national coordinators can use the BSGN toolkit to support the “Blue School” approach, which includes interdisciplinary work, community engagement, and student-led ocean initiatives.

Reference documents (White Papers) and actions of the “Vision 2030” initiative

These documents can support teachers who wish to better understand each of the Decade Challenges and help students relate their local problems to global priorities.

Ocean Decade 2027 Conference — Rio de Janeiro

This page can be used to contextualize the global landscape of the initiative and explain why student voices will be linked to the Decade of Oceans Conference to be held in Rio de Janeiro in April 2027.

10 — Frequently Asked Questions

Questions teachers ask

Do we need to overcome any obstacles to move forward? {{ faq0.sign }}

No. The initiative is not a competition. At each stage (national, regional, global), participants collectively choose the case or message that best represents the diversity of realities and voices, not “the best project.”

Can our school participate even if we don't speak fluent English? {{ faq1.sign }}

Yes. AI can be used to facilitate the translation and understanding of scientific texts, as outlined in the AI use policy. Most importantly, the analysis and final proposal must be developed by the students themselves.

Is it mandatory to visit the place where the problem is occurring (beach, river, etc.)? {{ faq2.sign }}

It is not mandatory, but it is strongly recommended whenever possible, as it strengthens students' connection with local reality and enriches their research.

What happens if our team is not selected for the National Dialogue? {{ faq3.sign }}

All the work done has educational value, regardless of the selection. Furthermore, each team contributes to the global digital collection of young voices about the ocean.

How many teams can a single school register? {{ faq4.sign }}

As many as they wish and who meet the team's criteria.

11 — Checklist for teacher preparation

Your first steps

Use this list to organize your first steps before presenting the project to the class.

☐Confirm with the National Coordination that the school is registered or can register for the initiative.
☐Identify a second teacher from another subject area to co-lead the project.
☐Define the class or group of students (from 5 to 15 students per team, from 9 to 18 years old).
☐Reserve a fixed weekly (or bi-weekly) time slot for project work during the development weeks.
☐Present the initiative to the students using Section 1 of this guide.
☐Organize student access to the WOA III platform (verify translation/AI support needs).
☐Agree with the class on the rules for the use of AI before starting the investigation.
☐Mark your calendar for the dates for sending the video, the National Dialogue, the Regional Dialogue and also the Global Dialogue.
☐Plan how families and the school community will be informed about the project.

Have a wonderful trip! Your students are about to transform global science into local action and bring their community's voice to an international dialogue about the ocean we want.