The vast mass of water in our seas and oceans covers over two-thirds of the Earth’s surface, provides sustainable livelihoods and decent work, food and minerals, produces about half the oxygen we breathe, and determines weather patterns and temperatures. The enormous pressure we are putting them under, threatens their survival. Knowing and understanding how the ocean influences us and how we influence the ocean is fundamental to living and acting sustainably. Ocean Literacy is one of the initiatives promoted by UNESCO under the “Decade of the Oceans (2021-2030)” to provide citizens with tools to acquire knowledge, capacities and values to achieve sustainable development of the oceans.
Scientists meet Artists is an initiative that emer- ged during the lockdown period of the pandemic. It was promoted by the Campus do Mar and the Marine Research Centre of the University of Vigo (CIM) and supported by the Xunta de Galicia. Its first project, “Communicate the Ocean”, created a space for dialogue between artistic creativity and scientific inquiry. It introduced families to the ba- sic concepts and processes of the oceans through a calendar with twelve coloring sheets and addi- tional digital resources.
“Ocean literacy” is the second project of Scientists meet Artists. It brings to life seven illustrations that capture the seven essential principles of Ocean Literacy inspired and explained by eight scientists. It creates freely accessible educational resources that seek to remediate the lack of subjects related to the oceans in formal education. It is the result of the meeting between the illustrator Inés Vázquez and the scientific staff from the Marine Research Centre of the University of Vigo and the Oceanographic Centre of A Coruña. The accompanying black and white sketchbook provide coloring fun for children to learn about the oceans with their families. A collection of outtakes brings to life some of the sketches that were very hard to discard.
With this, we hope to promote ocean knowledge and contribute to create a fairer and more respectful world for our seas and oceans.
