The ocean we need for the future we want

Did you know Canada has the world’s longest coastline? Oceans Week Canada is a great time to celebrate that fact—and to add your voice to the movement to protect the world’s ocean. We also celebrate World Oceans Day on June 8, which this year has the theme “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean”.

The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

In fact, the ocean will continue to be a central focus of global sustainable development for the entire coming decade. The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development runs from 2021 to 2030, so 2020 will be an exciting year of preparations.

The Decade is being coordinated by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The goals are to develop scientific knowledge, build infrastructure, and foster relationships for a sustainable and healthy global ocean.

Engaging Canadians

The Canadian Commission for UNESCO is doing its part by assembling an expert working group—led by Professor Gerald Singh from Memorial University in Newfoundland—to find ways to engage Canadians with the Decade.

• In January, we launched The Heart of Our Biosphere: Exploring Our Civic Relationship with the Ocean in Canada. Produced with the Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition, this paper collects the perspectives of Indigenous elders, science policy practitioners and the ocean literacy community and asks: To what extent do we recognize the ocean as Earth’s determining life system?
  
  
• Also in January, CCUNESCO representatives participated in the North Atlantic Workshop in Halifax, where they identified concrete actions to help achieve the Decade’s objectives. Hosted by the Ocean Frontier Institute, the event was co-organized with the IOC and made possible with support from Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
  
  
• In February, STEM Fellowship’s Big Data Days celebrated the finalists from this year’s High-School Big Data Challenge. The theme was “New Climate and Information Realities: From Oceans to Glass of Water.” Students analyzed government and humanitarian open data related to the impacts of climate change on water resources.
  
  
• In March, Science & Policy Exchange partnered with CCUNESCO to produce a report on ocean plastics called Waste Streams: Can we stem the plastic tide? It held a public forum with the same name to connect the public with researchers and other professionals addressing plastic pollution in waterways.
  
  
• The Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition is building a national ocean literacy strategy for Canada to promote a better understanding of our diverse relationships with the ocean. They will be hosting a virtual workshop on June 22-23 to discuss and advance findings from this Canada-wide research. Click here to learn more and register.

Getting children involved

Looking to engage children at home? There are lots of ways to learn about the ocean!

• Let's Talk Science offers an array of ocean-themed learning resources.

• Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants has a number of activities lined up to celebrate World Oceans Day.

• The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Little Inventors invite children to become oceanographers by imagining, inventing and drawing their ideas for innovations to protect the ocean. The challenge runs until December, and a selection of ideas will be showcased during Science Odyssey in 2021. Ideas that have already been submitted will be presented during the Little Inventors World Oceans Day Challenge on June 8.

The June 8 Challenge is being organized by the three above partners and CCUNESCO. Using the Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants platform, it will include a dynamic presentation by an oceans expert, an introduction to Little Inventors, and more details about the challenge. After that, the children who created the top submitted inventions will introduce them. The event will be moderated by a host.

Getting better acquainted with our ocean

Of course, learning about protecting our ocean isn’t just for kids. On World Oceans Day, the IOC-UNESCO will host the first Virtual Ocean Literacy Summit, in partnership with Ocean Wise, EuroGOOS and Experiential Atelier, along with dozens of collaborating organizations around the globe. To register and learn more, click here.

Oceans Week Canada 2020 is an opportunity for everyone everywhere to learn more. Led by CaNOE and the founders of Oceans Week Halifax, Oceans Week Canada is a joint initiative, which, through its emerging online platform, will allow events to be posted, shared, and searched from coast to coast to coast.