“We look forward to encourage a more coherent blue education in Sweden by engaging on a local level and hopefully spread the concept to other parts of the country.”
Maria Lewander, project leader at the Swedish Institute for the Marine Environment, responsible for the experimentation in Sweden
What is the current status of Blue Education in Sweden
Sweden has a wide range of initiatives and programmes on Blue education, though their distribution across the country is uneven. Many of them offer different types of education, both formal and non-formal about marine life and water systems. Possibilities to connect with researchers for collaboration also exist.
Challenges lie in ensuring stable funding to the Swedish networks for ocean and water literacy, a wider coordination between the different programmes.
Supporting teachers in choosing the “blue” when teaching about sustainable development and encouraging them to work cross-disciplinary, for example by including historical and cultural aspects.
What are the BlueLightS experimentation activities Sweden
Experimentation in Sweden is centered on developing a “Blue Education Node” on the island of Gotland: we will engage with at least five schools to begin with, together with the marine research centre Blue Centre Gotland/Uppsala University, the local science center Fenomenalen, the NGO – Swedish Anglers Association, the local Rotary club and the County of Gotland.
Key activities include securing funding mechanisms to enable field-trips, developing tool-kits for field work and experiments, providing teacher training and creating a project bank.
The conditions for replicability of the Blue education note will be investigated and reported to relevant stakeholders.
A few words about BlueLightS’ experimentation
BlueLightS’ experimentation aims to (1) elevate Blue education to the next level in each country; (2) integrate Blue Education into national education systems
The experimentation runs across nine EU countries from December 2024 to October 2026
