Over 60 abstracts have been submitted to the Organising Committee of the EMSEA Malta Conference being organised by the University of Malta between 7 and 10 October. Of these, 28 have been selected for oral presentation within the five thematic sessions being held in parallel during the Conference. The thematic sessions are: Promoting a further penetration of ocean literacy in school curricula, Future scenarios for ocean literacy, the Digital Age of ocean literacy, Ocean and human health and the Open session. In addition, 40 local teachers have registered to attend the teachers’ training seminar being organised on the first day of the Conference and which will showcase best practice in terms of ocean literacy school teaching methods (including in-the-field ones, on beaches, for example) by experts from the US and Europe.
EMSEA is the European Marine Science Educators Association which focuses on promoting a greater awareness of the ocean/sea and the role it plays in human lives as laid down in the seven principles of ocean literacy. EMSEA, a registered non-profit organisation acting as a platform for ocean education, was founded by three leading marine science institutions in Europe – VLIZ (Belgium), University of Gothenburg (Sweden) and the Plymouth Marine Station (UK) – on the footsteps of the corresponding organisation in the US – NMEA – which was founded in the 1970s. An EMSEA-MED group has also recently been formed within the structure of EMSEA. The Association holds an annual conference to bring together ocean literacy practitioners from all around Europe and one of the long-term goals of this movement is the formulation of accredited educational material on ocean literacy which can be incorporated within school curricula across Europe.
The EMSEA 17 Conference is being held at the Valletta Campus of the University of Malta, on 9 and 10 October, whilst a teachers’ seminar is being held on the 7 October at the Malta National Aquarium. The dates were hand-picked so as to constitute a continuous stream with the Our Ocean Conference being organised on 5 and 6 October by the European Commission (DG Mare) and thus promote a single participation by long-haul participants to both high-level meetings.
Prof. Alan Deidun, from the Department of Geosciences, is leading the University’s organising committee, which also features Prof. Paul J. Pace, Director of the Centre for Environmental Education and Research (CEER). The University of Malta has been organising an annual ocean literacy day every 8 June (World Oceans Day) for the past two years, whilst it has co-organised an ocean literacy seminar last December as part of the annual IOI (International Ocean Institute) Ocean Governance course.
A number of local public entities have already pledged their support to the EMSEA Malta Conference, including the Ministry for the Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change (MSDEC), the Ministry for Education and Employment (MEDE) and the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), as well as the Malta National Aquarium.
Any private entity interested in offering sponsorship support for the event is kindly asked to send an email to emsea2017@um.edu.mt. Registration for the conference and for the teachers’ training seminar is still possible through: www.um.edu.mt/events/emsea2017/registration.