The Blue School programme won the award for best school initiative on Ocean Literacy given by the EU4Ocean coalition. This award was announced on the European Maritime Day 2022, in a ceremony held in Italy (Ravenna), as part of the Ocean Literacy Summit.
“It is with great honor that the Blue School programme receives this award on behalf of its extraordinary community of Blue Schools. All the recognition that this programme achieves is due to the commitment and creativity of these schools. Just yesterday, on Blue School Day, Blue Schools responded to our challenge, creating dozens of Ocean Chains", said the programme coordinator, Raquel Costa, in reference to the Ocean Chain initiative that mobilized thousands across the country.
This award came just one day after Blue School signed a joint declaration with other international Ocean Literacy networks. This document sealed a commitment to develop common strategies and guidelines for the implementation of Ocean Literacy in schools at a European level.
The ceremony was attended by the European Commissioner for the Environment, Ocean and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius. In addition to Blue School, the declaration was signed by the European Marine Science Educators Association, the Blue Generation Project and the Office Français pour la Biodiversité, and will soon be extended to other entities and networks.