“BlueLightS gives us the opportunity not only to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders in our own country, but also to exchange experiences, ideas and best practices with partners in other countries… and that’s exciting!”
Louise Bigot, Educational Marine Areas expert at the French Office of Biodiversity, responsible for the experimentation in France
What is the current status of Blue Education in France
France already has a well-established network of schools implementing a blue education programme, called Educational Areas. An educational area is a small natural territory managed collaboratively by the students in primary, middle school or high school. Guided by their teachers and an environmental education organisation, students form a “children’s council” and make all decisions related to their educational area.
An educational area can be marine (EMA) or terrestrial (ETA). There are currently 393 EMAs and 1120 ETAs, engaging about 40 000 children each year.
The French biodiversity strategy has set a goal of establishing 18 000 educational areas by 2030, covering one-third of all French school classes.
What are the BlueLightS experimentation activities France
The French experimentation has two objectives: to strengthen the momentum around educational marine areas , and to enhance cooperation between blue education initiatives in France. Key activities include:
- Strengthening collaboration with other stakeholders in blue education to provide teachers with easier access to resources
- Organising events on EMAs during the French Year of the Sea and the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC)
- Enhancing connections between land and sea in educational areas, allowing terrestrial areas to explore marine subjects and vice versa;
- Promoting the recognition of EMAs as Blue Schools at European level;
- Developing a toolkit for EMAs in Europe and a training modules on Educational Areas;
- Collaborating with French Marine Natural Parks
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
